We must protect the Runestone!
by Talespinner69
Summary: After Rita and her kids return from going to a wedding in California, they arrive home to see that they have some guests from the Land of Fire. Meanwhile, a local tycoon of less than pleasant nature meets with villains from Japan to discuss things most foul. (Sequel to 'One reason'; connected to events in 'A couple that will go down in legend' and 'Harold Fisher: Legend of Konoha)
1. Chapter 1

(Pre-chapter author's note: This story is technically a Loud House/BNHA/Naruto crossover, it's just that I couldn't fit all three of them in. Sorry if there was any confusion on this matter.)

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House', BNHA/MHA, Naruto or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

We must protect the Runestone!

Chapter one: A master checks in on his pupil, also he brought his posse and adult niece

Rita Loud, the matriarch of the Loud family, pulled into the neighborhood where she lived with her family in Royal Woods, Michigan. The Loud matriarch, with all eleven of her children, was driving along in Vanzilla as they were just back in their home town after having returned from a wedding that was held out in San Francisco, California for one of the roommates of Luna's Californian friend Crow. The Loud siblings had never left Michigan, with many of them never even having left Royal Woods itself. So as one could imagine, the trip to San Francisco was quite the adventure.

"I still can't believe how epic that wedding was," Luna remarked as she, her siblings and their mother drove through the neighborhood in Royal Woods where they lived, "Leave it to Crow to makes things as awesome as possible for his bud Yusei!"

"Two of the local policemen in San Francisco _shot_ Crow's and Yusei's friend Jack," Lori began as she listed off some of the events that took place during the wedding in San Fran, "You and a few others had somehow managed to get all the way to _Canada_, and Yusei's father-in-law was arrested because he tried to assault Lincoln." Crossing her arms over her chest, the oldest Loud sister remarked with an annoyed look on her face, "Not, of course, like I was literally allow that man to get away with so much as slapping Lincoln. I mean, he was literally only trying to find a first-aid kit so he could take care of Lana who scraped her knee."

Nodding in agreement with her older sister, Leni said, "I totes agree, Lori. I mean, Linky does not, like, deserve to be hit because he was trying to help Lana."

"I still say you should have let me bite the man's left kneecap off," Lana huffed in an annoyed tone, "That would have shown him."

As the Loud sisters began to go on about how they were steamed at what Yusei's (now) father-in-law had tried to pull, Rita got the girls to all settle back down. "Girls, girls, calm down," the Loud matriarch said, "It's very nice of you all to keep an eye out for your brother, but there's no need to go so far, especially since that horrible man was arrested and I got a restraining order filed against him to keep him away from us." Rita turned a corner in the neighborhood where she and her family lived, and as she made that turn she said, "Just let the law handle things from here, and I promise you all that Hey what's with that RV parked along the sidewalk outside of our house?"

Confused, the Loud siblings all looked out the window and over to where their house was located; true to their mother's words, there was an RV parked outside along the sidewalk in front of the Loud residence. Since the RV was not blocking off the driveway, Rita was able to pull in and, once she and her children all got out, with Rita herself picking up and carrying baby Lily, Rita led her children up to the front door of their home. It was Lori, since Rita's arms were full with holding Lily, who opened the front door.

When the oldest Loud sibling did that, the first thing that she, her siblings and their mother saw was a lady who looked to be in her very early sixties sitting on the sofa in the living room, watching the TV. This woman had untamed brownish hair in a long spiky style, red-colored upside-down triangle shapes on the sides of her face (one on each cheek) that seemed to resemble fangs, and lipstick that was in a shade of purple. The woman wore a green sleeveless vest jacket over a black long-sleeved top with the sleeves rolled part-way up her forearms, a pair of matching pants, a pair of bluish open-toes sandals, and white wrapping cloth over her shins and around her right thigh.

To the further surprise of the returning Louds, this older woman was accompanied by a notably large dog that had dark bluish-grayish fur with white fur covering the lower half of his jaw, with said white fur going down the front of his neck, covering his underbelly, and all of his legs. The large dog was also wearing an eyepatch that covered his right eye, and his left ear was missing. It was this large dog that first spotted the returning Louds, as he looked over to the front door the instant he heard it open.

What happened next took the returning Louds completely by surprise; the large dog actually started to _talk_. "Hey, Tsume," the large dog said as he turned his head to the older woman that he was with, "Harold's student and her family just got here."

"Hmm?" the older woman, apparently named Tsume, remarked in a hum as he looked to her large talking dog; apparently she was so absorbed in watching TV that she failed to notice that the returning Louds just walked into the house. Looking over to the front door, Tsume saw Rita and her children, prompting her to get up from the sofa. "Well hot damn!" the older woman remarked in amusement, "About time you and your folks got here, Luna!"

"Excuse me," Rita began, "But who are you, how are you familiar with my daughter Luna, and most importantly…" Pointing to the large dog, Rita exclaimed, "_How can he talk_?!"

Gesturing to herself, Tsume said, "Oh, I guess I should probably explain what's going on here. First off, word up with thee, I'm Tsume Inuzuka." Gesturing to her large dog, Tsume continued, "And this here is Kuromaru, my ninkin or 'ninja dog'. As for how he can talk, it's a secret of the Inuzuka clan, so don't bother trying to dig into it."

"Tsume and I came along with her friend Harold Fisher, who as you should know has tutored your daughter Luna in music," Kuromaru explained, "Also with us are Harold's and Tsume's friend Inoichi Yamanaka, as well as Harold's adult niece Sakura Uchiha." Looking directly at Rita, the big talking dog said, "I can assume that you are Luna's mother Rita, yes?"

Still a bit shocked that there's a large talking dog in her living room, the Loud matriarch slowly nodded in the affirmative. "Good," Kuromaru remarked, "Then you'll be wanting to speak with Harold's niece as soon as possible. Sakura is a highly skilled and renowned medical expert and top tier medic-nin who was brought along to heal an injury your son Lincoln has." Turning his gaze to the sole Loud boy, Kuromaru said, "I'm going to assume that you're Lincoln."

"Uhh, yeah," Lincoln replied, a bit nervous and weirded out by the large talking dog that was talking to him, "I'm Lin-"

"Ah, there's my star pupil!" the familiar voice of an older man called out, making the Loud siblings and Rita turn around to see Harold Fisher come walking up to them from outside, going up the front steps on the patio to greet them. With Harold was Lynn Sr., a blonde man around Harold's age, and a woman who looked to be roughly the same age as Rita and Lynn Sr.

The man around Harold's age had long ash-blonde hair that was spiky at the top and he wore a lot of his hair in a high ponytail, and he wore the same kind of green sleeveless jacket, long-sleeved top, matching pants and sandals as Tsume, but the older man wore a waist-length red haori coat over his sleeveless jacket, and he also wore a blue headband around his forehead, with the headband having a metal plate that covered the forehead part; there was a stylized etching of a leaf in the center of the metal plate.

The woman that looked to be the same age as Rita and Lynn Sr. had pink hair, similar to Harold's, that reached her shoulders. The woman also wore a loose-fitting red t-shirt and a pair of pants that were similar to the pants worn by Tsume and the older man that was Harold's age, and a pair of similar sandals, and as a hairband a headband similar to what the older man Harold's age wore, albeit her headband had red cloth over the older man's blue. However, what had really nabbed Rita's attention about the woman was the small bluish diamond-shaped mark in the middle of her forehead.

Holding up his right hand in greeting to Rita and the Loud siblings, Harold said, "Long time no see, Louds. I trust that you all have been getting along since Haru and I came here a while ago to help Luna and her band get ready for that battle of the bands event?"

"Harold-sensei, dude!" Luna said excitedly as she ran up to her old music tutor to throw her arms around him to give him a hug, "It's been ages!"

"Ah, so this one is Luna," the older man that was with Harold said while pointing to Luna.

Giving the people who were with Harold a curious look, Rita said, "Umm, I take it that you two are those Inoichi and Sakura people that the talking dog mentioned?"

"Oh yeah, I need to make the introductions," Harold said, "Well, it's pretty clear that you guys have already met Tsume and Kuromaru, so I won't waist time introducing them." Gesturing to the older man and the adult woman that were with him in that order, the Fisher patriarch said, "This badass dude right here is my main man Inoichi Yamanaka, and this lady here is my adult niece Sakura Uchiha. You all remember my grandnephew Haru, right? Well, Sakura here is Haru's mother."

Rubbing the back of his head a bit, Lynn Sr. said, "Heh, sorry if I gave you and the children a fright by not being here when you got back, Rita. But Mr. Grouse next door had an allergic reaction to something he ate, so Harold's niece rushed over to heal him." With an impressed look on his face, the Loud patriarch continued, "I swear, Harold's niece is amazing as a doctor! Her hands glowed green when she was taking care of Mr. Grouse, and he was healed so perfectly that he didn't even have to go to the hospital!"

Rita's eyes, as well as those of most of her children, widened a bit out of surprise when hearing Lynn Sr. go on about how great of a doctor and healer Harold's adult niece was. Turning her attention to Sakura, Rita said, "Umm, well, I assume you're that woman what Luna's friend from California was talking about while he was here a short while ago." Walking up to Sakura, Rita continued, "If you really can do what Luna's friend said you can do to heal my son's injured leg, then I wouldn't even begin to know how to tell you how grateful I'd be."

Gesturing to where Lincoln stood, Sakura said as she addressed Rita, "I'll need a copy of any and all info concerning your son's injury. I was informed that there was a metal pin that was put in his leg to help keep one of the bones together, so I want to go over that before I figure out what exactly to do to fix your son's leg." Lowering her arm back down to her side, Sakura said, "But either way, it should be no problem for me to heal your son's leg. You can trust me when I say that your son's leg will be as good as it was before it was injured, as if it was never injured in the first place."

"Sakura here is a wiz in the hospital over in Konohagakure," Harold informed the Louds as he jerked a thumb at his adult niece, "You guys couldn't have asked for a better medic to look after the dude over there."

"Well I for one would be interested in seeing this supposed 'glowing hands' power that your niece has, Mr. Fisher," Lisa said in her usual dry monotone as she looked up at the older Fisher man, "Especially if it can miraculously fully mend my brother's injured leg." Turning to regard Sakura, the brainy Loud sister informed her, "I will be getting you a copy of the information regarding my brother's leg injury within the next hour. With that in mind, how soon do you think you'll be able to heal my brother?"

"Well it all depends on what I read, to be honest," Sakura began to explain, "Not to mention that I'm going to have to set something up with the local hospital here, since I'm going to be needing a proper room to operate in to remove the metal pin in your brother's leg before I can heal him. But if everything ends up going exactly as I'm picturing it right now, Lincoln will be fully healed sometime by tomorrow afternoon."

The Uchiha matriarch's explanation, as well as her declaration that Lincoln will be healed as if he never got his crippling injury sometime during the following day, took the Louds by surprise. With a mildly confused look on her face, Sakura said, "I…fail to see how this is such a surprise. I mean, I've done similarly complicated operations over in Konoha all the time, some of which I actually did in the field."

"You were able to perform such surgeries in the field?!" Lisa nearly exclaimed, clearly caught by surprise by how seemingly advanced compared to Royal Woods that Konoha was when it came to medical expertise, "How in the name of science is all of that possible?! Just how advance is the medical techniques over where you live?!"

The older adults from Konoha and Sakura all chuckled a bit over the sheer surprise that Lisa was displaying. "Umm, it's not so much science sometimes," Inoichi began to explain, "So much as it is medical ninjitsu."

Lisa, with a mildly confused look on her face, looked up at the older Yamanaka man. "…What do you mean by 'ninjitsu'?"

Giving the louds a curious look, Inoichi asked, "Oh! You guys don't know a lot about jitsu, do you? Yeah, well us ninja can use three different kinds of jitsu. The first is called ninjitsu, which lets you do crazy things like breathe fire and, in Sakura's case, do super healing stuff. The second is called genjitsu, which lets you conjure illusions so you can screw with enemies. The third and final one is called taijitsu, which is fancy unarmed martial arts moves that, unlike the other two kinds of jitsu, do not require chakra. The three kinds of jitsu tend to branch off into various subgroups of jitsu, so there's a lot out there to wrap your heads around."

"Here's an example of a jitsu technique that's called the Transformation Jitsu," Harold said as he held his hands together in a ninja hand sign, before suddenly being engulfed by a cloud of white smoke that poofed in out of nowhere. When the smoke faded, Harold had transformed into a double of Lori's boyfriend Bobby Santiago. Holding his arms out at length, the Harold-turned-Bobby said in Harold's voice, "So, what do you guys think?"

Pointing an accusing finger at the transformed Harold, Lori snapped, "How dare you transform into my Boo-Boo Bear and remind me of what happened when I thought you were the real Bobby, Mr. Fisher!"

Harold undid his transformation, and when he was back to normal he pointed an accusing finger right back at the oldest Loud sister. "And how dare _you_ for bad touching me!"

"Well if you didn't transform into Bobby, then I wouldn't have thought you really were Bobby and I wouldn't have kissed you on the lips!" the oldest Loud sister snapped angrily.

"Wait a minute," Sakura said, then continued when she turned to her uncle, "You kissed an underage girl, Uncle Harold?"

"Hey, _she_ was the one who kissed _me_!" Harold defended, "I wanted nothing to do with it, and I even cried out _No es Bueno_ as I tried to get away from her!"

Getting everyone to settle down, Tsume said, "Look, we can discuss who forced a kiss on who later. For now, we all just got here, so I think that we all ought to unwind and relax before we go about doing anything else. Sound good?"

Everyone else agreed with the older Inuzuka woman before everyone went into the Loud residence. They ended up ordering a few pizzas for dinner, during which time Sakura made the arrangements with Royal Woods General to remove the metal pin from Lincoln's left leg and heal the rest of the injury; the surgery had been scheduled for the following morning at nine-thirty-two, so after eating his share of dinner, Lincoln decided to go right to bed.

Even though Lincoln went to bed early since he's going in for surgery tomorrow, the rest of the Louds stayed up to entertain their guests. Lisa, who was still curious about the advancements that Konohagakure had apparently made in the field of medics, decided to put her wonder about that on the backburner for the time being, as she was trying to get Tsume to give her permission to take Kuromaru up to her room to play with him. Both Tsume and Kuromaru were under the idea that Lisa was just a sweet little girl who wanted to play with a dog, but Lisa's true plans were shot down when Luna pointed out that her friend Crow's roommate Kalin _also_ owns a talking dog that Lisa wanted to experiment on to learn the extent of his ability to talk.

Snapping her fingers in a disappointed gesture when Tsume and Kuromaru both told her no, Lisa swore, "Dang it."

* * *

"I still simply can't believe it!" Lord Tetherby exclaimed angrily as he sat in a lounge room at his estate, enjoying a glass of brandy as he was warmed by the roaring fire he had going in the fireplace that was in the room. As a butler offered to top off the brandy glass, an offer that the older wealthy businessman declined for now, Tetherby continued, "Not only was my safe that had my family's heirloom amulet raided, but my limousine was stolen! And all in the same night as well!" Pounding the right armrest of the chair that he sat in, Tetherby fumed, "This can't be!"

"I heard that two of the thieves responsible were captured by local authorities, and that the other three thieves were killed in the attempt to capture them," the butler who was serving Tetherby pointed out, "So your stolen valuables will be returned in good time, sir."

Pounding the same armrest of his chair that he already pounded, Tetherby snapped, "Most of my stolen valuables, including my family's heirloom amulet, were lost in the incident! Even without counting the emotional loss from losing my family's heirloom amulet, do you know how much value was stripped from me that night?!" The older wealthy businessman leaned back in his seat as he face palmed, letting out a frustrated, exasperated sigh. "…It's a good thing that I'm going to be meeting with a potential temporary partner that will help me recover the value that I lost, as well as earn a little more beyond that," Tetherby remarked.

The butler arched an eyebrow, a sign of piqued curiosity, as he regarded his employer. "…Do you mean that fellow who's waiting down in the foyer?" the butler asked, "The one who looks like some of his fingers had been cut off and surgically reattached?"

Tetherby, his eyes widening a bit as he turned to face his butler, said, "He's been here this whole time, and you've kept him waiting?! What in the blazes is wrong with you?" Pointing at the door in a dramatic fashion, Tetherby screamed, "Go get him at once!"

"Yes, sir!" the butler replied in something of a panic, afraid that he had just upset the older wealthy businessman, as he hastily left the lounge room. Tetherby turned back around to look at the roaring fire in the fireplace, fuming that his potential partner had been kept waiting. Tetherby was sure that he'll apologize for the mistake, as he had respect for those he works with when he's in the business to make considerable money.

It didn't take the butler long to return to the lounge room Tetherby was waiting in. With the butler was a fairly tall man with a moderate build. He had fair skin, short gray hair that was parted to one of the sides, a small moustache and a little goatee on his face, and when he saw Tetherby and smiled, it was shown that one of the man's front teeth were missing, revealing a gap in the man's smile.

As for outfit, he wore a pair of plain black dress shoes, a long-sleeved blazer that seemed to be colored purple, a pair of matching dress pants, a white dress shirt under the purple blazer, a pair of glasses with somewhat small circular lenses, and a somewhat fluffy scarf around his neck. The man nodded to Tetherby upon seeing him, as a sort of hello gesture; when the man nodded, the older wealthy businessman spotted a golden necklace around the man's neck, partly hidden by the scarf. At Tetherby's invitation, the man took a seat in the unoccupied arm chair next to the one that Tetherby himself sat in.

"I don't suppose that it's okay for me to smoke in here, is it?" the man asked as he pulled out a pack of cigarettes.

With a mildly amused smirk, Tetherby replied, "I have no problem with that, Mr. Giran. I've no doubt that your trip from Japan to here must have been quite the journey, and that you just need to relax." The older wealthy businessman made a simple gesture to his butler; understanding the cue, the butler went to a table along one of the walls in the lounge room, picked something up off of it, then brought it over to Tetherby and the man named Giran.

The butler sat what he grabbed, a beautifully crafted and detailed crystal ash tray, down on the side table that was placed between the two arm chairs respectively occupied by Tetherby and Giran. The purple-clad man nodded once in thanks to the butler before he turned his attention back to Tetherby. "So tell me, Tetherby," Giran began after taking a quick drag off of the first cigarette that he lit up, "How can me and my…associates that came with me from Japan…be of service to you?"

"There's this huge, prime plot of land located near the local mall here in Royal Woods," Tetherby began to explain, "I've been trying to acquire it for months now so that I can develop on it. If I get the land and develop on it, then not only will I be able to considerably increase my fortune, but with what I have planned, I'll also be able to run Royal Woods Mall out of business, allowing me to buy up that land and property on the cheap and mold it to suit the needs of my business and financial empire."

"…I can see where the services of my associates and I may come in handy here," Giran remarked, his tone sounding with piqued interest.

Nodding in confirmation, Tetherby went on, "Here's the thing; I'm not the only one gunning for that sizable plot of land. Other groups are also in the bidding for it, including Royal Woods Mall itself, who plans to expand the mall itself onto the plot of land if they get it." Giving Giran a knowing look, the older wealthy businessman explained, "Although I can technically win the bidding outright, doing so will be so costly that I will not see my spent money build back up for a very considerable length of time. I'd like to avoid that, if at all possible."

Giran chuckled a bit before taking another drag off of his cigarette. "…I think I can tell what you're going to ask of me," the purple-clad man began in a mildly self-amused tone, "You want my associates and I to try and make things easier and cheaper for you by putting the scare into the other parties that are in the bidding war against you, and that paying us to help you out is the less costly option than forcefully winning the bidding outright."

Tetherby gave Giran a single nod, a gesture that was a tell that Giran had hit the nail right on the head. "…Do you think that you can do it?" the older wealthy businessman asked.

"Oh, you wound me," Giran remarked in a mock hurt tone, holding his hand over his chest to exaggerate his bit of sarcasm that he was displaying. Being serious, Giran continued, "It should prove to be no problem. Granted, I was only able to bring three of my associates with me since my big boss man would only spare me those three, but I am certain that they can more than get the job done for you." Holding out his right hand, Giran asked, "So I take it that this means that we…have an accord?"

Tetherby considered Giran's outheld right hand, seeing signs that at least two of the fingers had been cut off and surgically reattached. This did not bother Tetherby in the least, especially since he heard the story behind Giran's injury, and knew that the purple-clad man has a serious pair of cojones to go through what he did and not only still be alive to this day, but he wouldn't even be bothered to compromise his integrity. Tetherby had a lot of respect for people like Giran.

Grasping Giran's right hand with his, Tetherby said with a self-amused, knowing look on his face, "Why yes. I believe we do."

"Heh," Giran remarked in a mildly amused tone, "I bet that my three associates will be glad to hear that they'll be getting work here in the United States." After he said that bit, Giran reached into a pocket, pulled out a phone, dialed up a number and waited a few seconds for the other end to pick up. "…Ah, Dabi," Giran said into the phone when he heard someone pick up on the other end of the line, "Go ahead and tell Himiko and Shuichi that we just made the contract. I'll come back later with details on the first job from our stateside partner."

Without another word, Giran ended the call, closed his phone and slipped it back into the pocket on his pants that he pulled it from. Turning his attention to Tetherby, Giran said, "That was one of my associates that I was able to bring with me here to the States. I was just telling him that we have just secured our business alliance with you and to inform the others that came with us from Japan to wait as I go over the details of our first job with you." Resting his elbows on his knees as he leaned forward a bit, the purple-clad man flashed an amused grin. Giving Tetherby a knowing look, Giran began, "So, Lord Tetherby, tell me. What is the first thing that we have to take care of here?"

END, RUNESTONE CHAPTER ONE

Author's notes:

This story picks up after a number of things; while technically a sequel to 'One reason', this story actually picks up right after the end of the 10th chapter of 'Yu-gi-oh! 5Ds After Hours', where the Loud siblings and Rita make an appearance at the wedding. 'We must protect the Runestone!' will also play a VERY significant role for 'A couple that will go down in legend', which is my main BNHA/MHA story; events in this story WILL have an impact on 'A couple that will go down in legend', so please bear in mind that this story DOES have some relevance to the events that will come.

This story also heavily connects to the first story that I ever got up, that being 'Harold Fisher: Legend of Konoha', as the events of this story take place during chapter thirty-nine of 'Harold Fisher'. Harold and his group are absent for most of that aforementioned chapter because they are here in Royal Woods with Sakura, the medical expert that was arranged to be brought in to take a look at Lincoln's injured left leg. This arrangement was set up during the events of 'One reason', to those who may have ended up missing it. That's pretty much the only reason WHY Harold and his group are here.

…But if all that Harold and his group did while in Royal Woods was stick around while Sakura healed Lincoln, then there wouldn't be much adventure/excitement. That's why Tetherby, who was screwed over to some degree during the events of the last arc in 'One reason' is currently on the move with a plan to build back up the value that had been stripped from him. But since there are highly-ranked shinobi from Konohagakure currently in Royal Woods, he can't carry out his schemes on his own without running the risk of getting shut down in next to flat. That's why the old rich fat bastard is going to be bringing in some 'guest-star muscle' that came all the way from Japan. Where might this lead?

Well, there's only one way to find out.


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House', BNHA/MHA, Naruto or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

We must protect the Runestone!

Chapter two: A long-bothersome injury is mended, also there's a mess at the local mall

"I have to admit," the lead surgeon of Royal Woods General said as he and a few other surgeons watched Sakura Uchiha at work on the white-haired boy that was put under anesthesia, "You've shown us things here in the operating room that we didn't even know were plausible treatment methods in the field of medical science." The lead surgeon looked to a tray that was on a wheeled metal table next to Sakura; laying in the tray was a metal pin, coated in blood, that's used when it's surgically placed into a limb to help keep bone pieces in place as they heal.

The surgeon watched as Sakura's hands glowed with a bright greenish energy that formed into a sphere of energy that engulfed her hands. Sakura had lowered this energy onto the person that she was operating on, and the doctors watched in shocked awe and wonder as the incision on the leg that had been cut open to remove the aforementioned metal pin began to quickly heal up, as if said incision had never been made. The head surgeon even saw some parts of the bone in that leg mend as the incision was quickly and perfectly mended, as if by magic.

The head surgeon gently shook his head as he chuckled a bit, unable to help himself. "…Wow," the head surgeon remarked, "I think that there's a lot that can be explored in the medical science field with a doctor's convention held over in Konohagakure."

"There would have to be a _lot_ of security clearance made to allow a bunch of doctors from outside of the Land of Fire to enter Konoha for a convention," Sakura remarked, "Not to mention the fact that pulling off feats like what I'm doing here with Lincoln requires extensive, precise control of chakra, as well as years of study of medical jitsu."

The head surgeon nodded in understanding, chalking up the little bits he did not have a full understanding of up to the differences between Royal Woods and Konohagakure. "Well then, Miss Haruno," the head surgeon said, "I would still like to thank you for showing us some of the medical skills that you and the other doctors over where you live have been able to cultivate."

Sakura smiled a bit at the thanks. "You're welcome," the pink-haired woman said, "Oh, and by the way, it's Mrs. Uchiha. Haruno is my maiden name." Sakura could not help but squee to herself on the inside when she identified herself as 'Mrs. Uchiha'; even after all these years, the pink-haired woman still had a little bit of that schoolgirl that she used to be inside of her, the very same schoolgirl that fangirled over the aloof, raven-haired boy that is now her husband and the father of their son.

"Sorry," the head surgeon apologized, "I heard that Haruno was a last name for you, so I had just assumed that it's what you went by." Right when the head surgeon apologized, he and the other Royal Woods surgeons saw Sakura's green glowing energy heal up the very last bit of incision that was made to not only remove the metal pin that was in Lincoln Loud's left leg, but also heal up Lincoln's injury to the point that it was like he never had the injury in the first place.

After she saw her technique finish healing up the unconscious twelve-year-old boy's leg, Sakura said, "There we go. The metal pin had been taken out and the injury is mended. All that we can do now is let Lincoln sleep off the rest of the anesthesia." As a few last minute clean up bits were taken care of, Sakura turned to the head surgeon. "Even though he's been healed, we ought to tell Lincoln's parents that he should not do anything strenuous for a few days. I'm going to suggest a full week of rest time. He should also try to lightly exercise his healed leg here and there."

The head surgeon nodded in agreement. "Yes, that sounds like a good call," the head surgeon remarked right as the unconscious Lincoln was wheeled out of the room on the table that he was being operated on. When Lincoln was out of the room, the head surgeon said, "You know, I was one of the doctors that operated on young Mr. Loud when he was brought in following that very terrible attack on the elementary school. From what I saw, I was honestly quite surprised that we didn't have to remove the leg entirely and replace it with a prosthetic. Even so, I was figuring on Lincoln keeping that leg injury for the rest of his life." Gesturing to Sakura, the head surgeon said, "Then a medical expert from Konoha such as yourself comes into Royal Woods and pulls off a literal miracle."

Sakura couldn't help but chuckle at the head surgeon's sheer amazement with her expertise. "What I did was actually pretty commonplace over in Konoha," the Uchiha woman explained, "You should have seen some of the work I had to do on patients that were brought in to Konoha after an earthquake struck a village-town on the outskirts of the Land of Fire."

"Oh, I actually heard about that earthquake," a female surgeon standing behind the head surgeon remarked, "I heard that it left the village-town practically uninhabitable until the disaster relief group that was thrown together could clean it up and begin the process of rebuilding everything that had been damaged in the earthquake."

Sakura nodded in confirmation. "…Yes, that's all true," the Uchiha woman said, "Luckily, Konoha's allies Suna and Iwa are pitching in. The clean-up is mostly finished, which means that the reconstruction should begin sometime within the coming weeks and months."

The female surgeon clapped her hands together, a gesture that showed some celebration for the good news. "Well thank goodness for that," the female surgeon replied, which drew a nod in the affirmative out of Sakura. The Uchiha woman then excused herself, as she said that she needed to go out to the waiting room to inform the Louds about the success of the surgery on Lincoln.

* * *

To a lack of surprise on Sakura's part, her uncle Harold, as well as his friends Inoichi and Tsume, plus Tsume's ninkin Kuromaru (Tsume claimed he was her service animal), were in the waiting room with Lynn Sr., his wife Rita and all ten of their daughters. It was Sakura's uncle that had gotten up and was the first to speak to her. "So, Cherry Bug," Harold began, addressing his adult niece by a cutesy nickname that he came up with for her back when she was four-years-old, "What's the prognosis? How's Luna's little brother doing?"

"Before I say anything," Sakura said, "I want all of you to be as quiet as possible when I tell you how the surgery went. This is a hospital, and the last thing that's needed here is for a bunch of people to be as loud as possible." Taking in a breath, Sakura said, "Anyway, the surgery went as I had expected. Lincoln made a full recovery and-" Sakura was cut off when the Louds, plus the three Konoha seniors, all cheered excitedly and as loudly as possible, flat out rejecting Sakura's request as forcefully as possible.

"…I recommend that he not do anything strenuous for a week at least," Sakura said dryly once the Louds and the Konoha seniors settled down enough so she could speak over them, "Lincoln should also lightly exercise his left leg, to help with circulation."

"Well hot damn!" Tsume remarked, "The little dude's been fixed! This calls for a celebration!" Turning to face everyone else in the waiting room, the Inuzuka matriarch said, "Let's all get completely shitfaced!"

Sighing in a resigned tone, Kuromaru pointed out, "Tsume, none of Rita's and Lynn's children are old enough to drink. I was going to suggest a little party at their place to celebrate their son being brought back to peek condition."

Nodding in agreement with Kuromaru, Lynn Sr. said to Tsume, "Your talking dog has a point, and I think that such a party would be a fantastic idea."

"Alright, alright," Tsume conceded, "A party it is." To the adults, the Inuzuka matriarch said, "But I'm going to get ahold of some booze for the lot of us." The adults, who were all legally old enough to drink, nodded in agreement, and the Loud sisters were distracted by the fact that not only were they going to have a party, but said party was being thrown to celebrate the fact that their only brother had just been fully healed, as if he was never hurt in the first place.

It was more than any of them could have ever hoped for.

* * *

The Loud sisters went about doing various things in preparation for the party to celebrate Lincoln's recovery; he was still at the hospital sleeping off the rest of the anesthesia, but he would be ready to return home sometime around five-thirty in the afternoon. That gave the girls ample time to go about their respective business in town. One such example saw the three oldest Loud sisters, Lori, Leni and Luna, heading over to Royal Woods Mall. Going along with them was Tsume and Kuromaru.

As she looked up at the mall as she and the rest of the group approached it, Tsume said with a hint of suspicion in her tone, "…This places allows animals, right?"

"Just tell them that I'm your service dog like you did when you lied through your teeth back at the hospital," Kuromaru remarked, his dry tone carrying a noticeable hint of knowingness, "I'm sure you'll get away with bringing me inside if you do that."

"Relax, Mrs. Inuzuka," Luna said, "There's no need to worry about being able to bring Kuromaru into the mall with you. I've seen people bring dogs inside the mall all the time, and many of those weren't even service dogs. I'm certain bringing Kuromaru in will fly, although he may want to not talk while in the mall."

Nodding in understanding, Tsume replied, "Yeah that makes sense. Most of the locals here in Royal Woods aren't as awesome as us dudes from Konoha and Hey what's with all of that construction that's going on over there?" The Inuzuka matriarch deviated midsentence when she looked over in a random direction and saw that one area on the far side of the mall building had a couple of construction machines sitting around.

Looking over to where Tsume was looking, Lori and her sisters spotted what caught Tsume's attention. "Oh, that," the oldest Loud sister began, "Yeah, there's currently a bidding war going on between a few parties that are literally trying to outbid each other and claim some large area of land next to Royal Woods Mall. Last that I heard about it, no one has won the bidding yet, but the party for Royal Woods Mall is currently in the lead. From what I'm seeing, I'm literally going to guess that the mall party thinks that they're going to win the bidding and have brought over construction machines in anticipation."

"Sounds like they're counting their chickens before they hatch," Kuromaru remarked as he looked over where the construction machines were parked, "I'd personally wait until _after_ the bidding is brought to a close before going about getting the construction equipment."

Leni looked like she was about to say something, most likely asking about what the counting of chickens had to do with the construction of buildings. However, before the fashionable Loud sister could get one word out, flames of bright blue erupted out from over where the construction machines were parked. Many of the people in that area began to run away while screaming in fear. Seeing what was going on, Tsume and Kuromaru leapt into action.

"You ready, Kuromaru?!" Tsume shouted as she and her ninkin ran to the chaos that had just been unleashed, holding her hands together to make a ninja hand sign. As Tsume did this, Kuromaru ran up behind Tsume, jumped up and landed his two front paws on Tsume's back; when he did this, he was enveloped in a poofing cloud of white smoke. When the smoke had faded, Kuromaru had transformed into a duplicate of Tsume that joined the original in running right towards the unfolding chaos.

When Tsume and the transformed Kuromaru got close enough, they saw a fairly sinister looking guy walking around, firing blasts of blue fire from his hands at more or less everything. He had fair skin…or at least the parts of his skin that did not look gnarled, wrinkled, colored purple as if they were severely burned by flames, and seemingly stapled back on with surgical staples were a somewhat fair color.

The man had notably long black spiky hair, and he wore a white shirt under a dark bluish long coat with elbow-length sleeves that ended in metal cuffs that went around his elbows. He also wore a pair of baggy, dark-colored pants, a pair of dark-colored boots, and a gray belt that held up his baggy pants. He also had various facial piercings in his ears and on the one side of his nose. When he turned and saw two identical-looking older women standing there, as if they were both ready for a fight, he merely arched an eyebrow out of piqued interest.

"…Who are you two supposed to be?" the sinister-looking man asked as he pointed his right index finger at Tsume and the transformed Kuromaru. A small blue flame lit up on the tip of the man's pointing finger, flickering up.

"We're the two who are going to have to ask that you surrender peacefully," Kuromaru said in his regular voice, making the sinister man arch his eyebrows out of confusion.

Jerking a thumb at Kuromaru, Tsume explained, "I used the Human-Beast Mimicry technique to turn my ninkin into a duplicate of myself."

The sinister man considered Tsume and the transformed Kuromaru for a few seconds before his eyes widened in surprise. "…Well fuck," the man swore in an annoyed tone, "That man that Giran scouted out the business alliance with never said anything about shinobi from one of the elemental nations showing up here in Royal Woods." Holding his hands with the palms facing his ninja opponents, the sinister man said as both of his hands became engulfed in blue flames, "So what, are Toga, Spinner and I going to have to kill the both of you first before we can go on with our attack here?"

"Who the hell are-" Kuromaru said, but he stopped short and leapt out of the way with Tsume when the both of them sensed someone rush in, putting distance between themselves, the sinister man and his two allies that had just shown up at that moment. The two new arrivals that now stood on either side of the sinister man both eyed Tsume and the transformed Kuromaru with curious looks.

The first person, to the interest of Tsume and her ninkin, looked like a humanoid lizard; this fellow had vibrant green scales rather than normal human skin, and he had long purple-pinkish hair that was swept back. He wore a white strip of cloth over his eyes, sort of like a ninja mask, a pair of goggles on his forehead, a sleeveless gray shirt with some white parts covered in blue circles, dark baggy pants held up with a belt, a red scarf around his neck, bandage wrappings around his arms with the parts near his wrists partly covered by a pair of black wristbands, metal knee guards over his knees, a pair of black boots, and he had a katana in a scabbard on his back.

The second person, to the further interest of Tsume and Kuromaru, looked like a typical Japanese high school girl. This girl had fair skin, somewhat messy pale blonde hair that had two buns on the sides of her head (one on each side), a long-sleeved beige cardigan with a Kansei school uniform collar sticking out, a dark bluish skirt that was partly overtaken by the long hem of the cardigan, dark gray socks that reach her knees, and a pair of brown shoes.

Now if that were all then she would have just looked like a regular Japanese high school girl, albeit one that's out of place in Royal Woods. However, the girl also had on a few other things, such as a black mask that covered the lower half of her face (this mask also looked like it had little pipes on it), some small green boxes that were strapped to the outer sides of her thighs, a blue belt that had multiple similarly green boxes on it, a loose black accessory around her neck that looked like a feral grin, some metal canisters along the sides of this accessory, tubes that were connected to said canisters, and a somewhat bigger green canister strapped to her back.

"Ooh!" the high school girl said in an excited tone, one that carried a hint of bloodlust that Tsume and Kuromaru recognized right away, "We get to play with some of the local seniors here? Ooh, I bet that when I next see Izu-kun and tell him that I played nice with the elderly on my trip to the States, he'll love me and want to make me his girlfriend!"

"I…doubt that he'll want to date you," the sinister man said a bit dryly, annoyed and a little confused by the high school girl's antics.

"Quit it with the talking, you weirdo freaks!" Tsume snapped as she signaled for Kuromaru to move with her. Together, the two of them quickly spun around to the point that they both became tunneling drills that flew at and slammed into where the three attackers stood, with Tsume even shouting, "Fang Over Fang!" as she and Kuromaru attacked.

The three attackers all leapt out of the way of Tsume's attack, surprised not only by the fact that a woman of Tsume's notable age was able to move as quickly and easily as she did, but by the raw power of her combo attack that she pulled off with her transformed dog, who poofed back to normal then the attack ended and he and Tsume just stood there, glaring at the attackers where they landed about a dozen feet away.

The lizard man rushed forward after drawing his katana out from the scabbard over his back. He ran at Tsume, who charged at him, and his katana met her kunai that she had pulled out. The high school girl tried to rush in to help the lizard man, but Kuromaru leapt up and used Passing Fang to attack her, knocking her back to where she was previously standing, only for her to be caught by the sinister man. After he caught and set his ally back on her feet, the sinister man conjured some blue flames that he fired at Kuromaru, who leaped backwards to avoid the attack, landing next to Tsume who had just kicked the lizard man away.

The lizard man leapt back to rejoin his fellows, both of which seemed a bit rattled by the fact that an older woman and her large dog were holding their own against the three of them. "Fuck, it looks like we're going to have to fall back for the time being," the sinister man remarked to his fellows in an annoyed tone, "We weren't expecting something like this to pop up." Before either Tsume or Kuromaru could stop them, the three attackers fled when the sinister man used a lot of his blue flames to create a barrier that gave them the cover to flee.

After the blue flames died down and people began to come out now that the attackers had left, Lori, Leni and Luna all went running over to Tsume and Kuromaru. "Yo, Mrs. Inuzuka," Luna said, "What the hell happened here?!"

"Some crazy school girl, a teenage mutant ninja lizard and some guy who looks like he works at and shops at an edgy retail store in the mall all tried to raise hell here where all the construction machines are parked," Tsume explained, "Kuromaru and I fought them to a standstill, at which point they all vamoosed, with the edgy looking prick using blue flames he conjured to create a barrier to give him and his pals cover to flee."

"We literally need to tell the authorities what happened here," Lori stated, "They need to know so that they can track down those attackers and arrest them."

Nodding in agreement, Kuromaru said, "That's the plan, Lori. Although the police may want to be careful with that edgy looking fellow who can conjure blue flames. That lizard-looking man and the school girl should also be regarded with caution." The three oldest Loud sisters, Tsume and Kuromaru waited around until the police showed up, with the officer asking Tsume and the others about what happened being Officer Schoffner.

After at least an hour, the police got what they needed from the girls and Kuromaru, allowing them to go about their business. However, given how long the interview with the police had taken, the girls and Kuromaru had to skip going into the mall altogether, otherwise they'd be late for the party being thrown to celebrate Lincoln's successful recovery.

* * *

When the three oldest Loud sisters, Tsume and Kuromaru all got back to the Loud residence, the other Loud sisters and Rita where waiting there with Harold, Inoichi and Sakura; Rita explained that Lynn Sr. had gone to Royal Woods General to pick Lincoln up, as the hospital called while Tsume and her group were out to inform the Louds that Lincoln had just been cleared. While they all waited for the Loud patriarch to get back with Lincoln, Tsume and her group decided to tell everyone else what had happened.

"You've got to be kidding me," Sakura said as she, Harold and Inoichi regarded Tsume and Kuromaru, "You two fought a trio of bizarre people who were attacking the construction machines parked on the development land next to the local mall? And one of those attackers conjured blue flames to attack you guys?"

"Well Tsume and I were the only ones on the scene who could have fought against them," Kuromaru explained, "It's a good thing that Rita's daughters that were with us all decided to hang back until the coast was clear."

Letting out a relieved sigh, Rita said, "Yes, that was very fortunate. I mean, my son had just recovered from an injury he suffered a couple of months ago. I don't want _any_ of my children to go through such an experience ever again. I'm not even sure if I can take it."

Sakura nodded in agreement with the Loud matriarch, knowing just how she feels given that the Uchiha woman herself is also a mother. Sakura was about to say something, but before she could get even one word out, she was cut off by Inoichi. "You said that some edgy guy with blue fire powers," the Yamanaka patriarch began, "Some psychotic high school girl and a ninja that sells car insurance attacked the construction gear on the plot of land next to Royal Woods Mall." With a curious look on his face, Inoichi asked, "Why in the name of Gilgamesh were they doing that?"

"This warrants some investigation, bros," Harold said to Inoichi and Tsume, both of which nodded in agreement. Even Kuromaru and Sakura, both shinobi of Konohagakure like the three seniors in the room, also nodded in agreement. Pounding his right fist into his left hand, Harold continued, "Who's to say that those freaks won't try to attack the construction again? And what if someone's putting them up to it? We need to-"

Harold was cut off when the front door of the Loud residence was opened from the outside, making everyone turn to see Lynn Sr. walk in with Lincoln, who now walked without any visible discomfort, and without any sign of limping. The Loud sisters all bum-rushed their father and only brother, mostly with the intent to grab Lincoln and wrap him up in the center of a very large group hug, cheering at finally seeing their brother fully recovered from his savage injury that had for so long hampered his lifestyle.

Seeing how the Loud girls, one of which being his apprentice in the dank ways of awesome and rock, fawning over their brother who was now fully restored, Harold could not help but smile in a warm manner. "…Ah, we can cover that business later," the Fisher patriarch replied, waving his hand in a dismissive gesture, "For now, we got a party to throw!" Everyone else that was in the room cheered, and the sisters got to work right away with setting the party up.

* * *

Back at Tetherby's estate, the man himself was sitting in an armchair in his lounge room, with Giran sitting in the arm chair next to his. Standing off to the side from Tetherby was his butler, and standing in front of the seated men were the three attackers that struck the construction over on the plot of land next to Royal Woods Mall. The sinister man, who stood with the high school girl on his left and the lizard man on his right, just finished telling Tetherby and Giran what had happened over at the mall.

Sighing in a resigned tone, Giran said, "Thanks for the update, Dabi. Are you, Spinner and Toga going to be alright?"

Letting out a mildly frustrated sigh, the sinister man, identified as Dabi, replied, "As much as we can be, I suppose. I still can't believe that there's a shinobi from one of the elemental nations here in Royal Woods. And who's to say that there aren't more?"

"Hang on a minute," Tetherby began as he gestured to Dabi and his fellows, "How old did you three say this woman was?"

Crossing his arms over his chest, the lizard man said, "She looked to be in her very early sixties, if my estimation is accurate."

"Yeah, I'm going to have to go with what Spinner said," Dabi remarked while jerking a thumb at the lizard man, identifying him as Spinner which by default meant the girl was Toga, "That lady had to be sixty-years-old at a minimum. I have nothing on her big talking dog, though."

"Why does one lone senior woman and her dog have the three of you so wound up?" Tetherby asked, arching a wry eyebrow as he crossed his arms while looking at Dabi, Spinner and Toga.

Giran turned in his seat to look at Tetherby; the older wealthy businessman, having sensed that his associate turned, likewise turned to face him. "Keep in mind that the woman is a shinobi from one of the elemental nations," Giran began to point out, "Even the older ones among their number can vastly outstrip many of my associates back in Japan." Gesturing to Tetherby with his left hand, Giran said, "We cannot afford to underestimate the shinobi, my good man."

Letting out a resigned sigh, Tetherby said, "Very well, we'll play it safe. You guys better do that recon you suggested to learn more about these 'shinobi' that are here in Royal Woods." Crossing his arms over his chest, Tetherby said, "They are obviously a threat to my end goal, if not a sheer nuisance. We need to handle them pronto." Grian and the others all nodded in agreement with the older wealthy businessman as Dabi, Spinner and Toga began to talk about what to do to learn more about the unexpected threat to their plans that had just popped up.

END, RUNESTONE CHAPTER TWO

Author's notes:

Well there we go. The first fight of the story took place, with Tsume and Kuromaru driving back the villains before much can happen. Lincoln was also fully healed, which normally would have meant that the Konoha guys would go back home soon after. But because of Dabi and the others, Harold and his friends are going to have to stick around longer to investigate, not to mention the villains are also going to look into them. Things will get heated in the next few chapters, that much can be guaranteed.

And no, they won't get heated just because of Dabi's quirk. I meant what I said about 'things getting heated' in a metaphorical sense anyway.


	3. Chapter 3

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House', BNHA/MHA, Naruto or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

We must protect the Runestone!

Chapter three: Something goes on at the local zoo, also a title is dropped

The morning following Lincoln's successful treatment over at Royal Woods General, courtesy of Harold's adult niece Sakura, the Loud family were having a rather notable spread for breakfast at their home in Royal Woods, Michigan. The Louds were joined by Harold, his aforementioned niece, and the rest of the party that came from Konohagakure. Due to the sheer number of people that were eating, a second table had to be brought in from the garage so that there was enough space for everyone to sit in the dining room.

Aside from Rita trying to insist that Kuromaru eat outside of the dining room as pets weren't allowed to be in the dining room during meals, things went rather smoothly during breakfast, and even then the adults from Konoha (with Tsume being rather vocal) were able to convince the Loud matriarch to allow Kuromaru to remain in the dining room, pointing out that Kuromaru, by Inuzuka clan tradition, had to remain in close proximity to his human partner. Luna further said to her mom that she was blatantly disrespecting Konoha culture by trying to force Kuromaru out of the dining room and away from Tsume. Rita, not one to ever want to be disrespectful to one's culture, allowed the talking ninkin to remain.

And so, breakfast with the Louds commenced, and everyone enjoyed homemade French toast, made by Lynn Sr. himself. As the Louds and the party from Konoha ate, one of the first subjects that was talked about during breakfast was brought up by Leni. "So, Linky," the fashionable Loud sister began, getting her younger brother's attention, "Now that your hurt leg is no longer hurt, what do you plan to do?"

Lincoln, after swallowing a mouthful of French toast, replied, "I was planning to do some light exercises to help get my left leg back into the swing of things, like Mrs. Uchiha suggested." The sole Loud boy took a sip of his drink before continuing, "I was also going to look into trying to resume my Kendo lessons with Aggro-sensei, since I wasn't able to do much of them while my leg was injured."

"Ah, so you're looking to try and get back into shape somewhat," Lynn remarked as she turned her attention to her brother, "Yeah, that's what I'd do if I had just finished recovering from being injured similar to how you were." Giving her younger brother a pat on the back, the sporty Loud sister continued, "It seems that you and I have a lot more in common that I would have given you credit for, Lincoln."

"This is all well and good, kiddos," Tsume began, her tone somewhat serious as the Loud siblings all turned to face the Inuzuka matriarch, "But there's some big fish here in Royal Woods that we need to fry first. Harold?"

At the cue from his friend, Harold reached over to his side, picked something up, then sat back upright as he handed what he picked up, a vanilla folder, over to Tsume. Thanking the Fisher patriarch, Tsume said after receiving the folder, "Those weirdos who attacked the sight at the local mall where those construction machines are located are still on the loose. What's more is that all three of them are probably so severely threatening that the local police won't be able to do a fucking thing to put a stop to them. Therefore, it falls to the boys and me to step in and save the day before it gets thrown in the shitter."

Opening the vanilla folder, Tsume took out an eight by eleven inch printed sheet that was colored and depicted the sinister man with blue flames (Dabi) from the attack at Royal Woods Mall the previous day. "This is suspect number one," Tsume began as she handed the photo to Harold, who proceeded to pass it around the table for everyone to look at, "Who I'm dubbing as 'Edgy retail store Man'. He was observed as conjuring and manipulating blue fire, so he's most likely the biggest threat out of the three attackers."

When the first picture made its way back to Tsume, she put it back in the folder before pulling out another eight by eleven inch printed colored picture of the lizard man (Spinner) from the attack at Royal Woods Mall. "This is suspect number two," Tsume continued as the photo made its way around the table, "I'm dubbing him as 'Car Insurance Ninja'. Given his outfit and the fact he carried a katana, I'm guessing he fancies himself as a ninja like myself, Kuromaru, Harold, Inoichi and Sakura. However, I could tell from my brief clash with him yesterday that he's nowhere near our level. But his lizard man physique makes him something of a wildcard, so it's best that we keep an eye out for him."

The second printed picture made its way back to Tsume, who put it back into the folder and pulled out a third printed picture of the high school girl from the aforementioned attack (Toga) before having it begin being passed around the table. "And this wonderful little mess right here is our third and final suspect," the Inuzuka matriarch said, "I'm calling her 'Psychotic School Girl', because I can just tell by looking at her face that she's coo-coo bananas in the coconut. I have yet to determine a damn thing about how much of a threat she can pose, but given that I saw her rolling with Edgy retail store Man and Car Insurance Ninja yesterday, I think that we can safely assume that she's not one to be trifled with."

"Wow Tsume, you're taking this more seriously than you and the guys here take most everything back home in Konoha," Kuromaru remarked dryly. Looking up at his partner, the talking ninkin said, "Alright, then. What's the plan?"

"Well first, we have to go about tracking down any and every bit that we can get on the attackers from yesterday's altercation over at the local mall," Sakura pointed out, "That's basic standard procedure for cases like this. Since there are also multiple suspects involved, we need to form multiple groups, assigning one group to one suspect. The rest should be pretty self-explanatory."

Tsume nodded in agreement with the Uchiha woman, pointing to her in a commending manner before saying, "Yeah, Sakura's got it right on the money."

"So Tsume," Rita began, "How do you and the other three in your group plan to split up to track down these three suspects?"

"You mean the other _four_ in my group, Rita" Tsume stressed to the Loud matriarch. Jerking a thumb at Kuromaru, Tsume continued, "You're forgetting about Kuromaru here." Looking to everyone in the dining room as a whole, Tsume continued, "Me, Kuromaru, Harold, Inoichi and Sakura make five, so we can split up into two groups of two with a single person acting as a one-man party. One pair will go after Edgy retail store Man while the other pair will be going after Car Insurance Ninja, leaving the lone person to go after Psychotic School Girl. However, if there are any persons here in Royal Woods that have notable skills in combat, we can work them in to help with going after the three suspects."

With a bit of a self-amused chuckle, Lori raised a hand, getting Tsume's attention. "…Yeah," the oldest Loud sister began, "If it's 'persons that have notable skills in combat' that you're looking for, then just give me a bit to call up my friend Allison. She is literally battle incarnate."

"Ooh, I get it!" Leni said, understanding what her older sister was trying to get at, "It's because she's, like, totes a Viking, right?"

Nodding in the affirmative, Lori said, "Exactly, Leni." To the party from Konoha, the oldest Loud sister continued, "Allison is literally the textbook definition of what someone's talking about when they say 'Viking warrior'." Nodding confidently, Lori continued, "If anything, Allison should be able to help bring things up to an even number so that there isn't a lone person running around trying to help take down one of the suspects."

"Well alright," Harold said as he clapped his hands together, "Now we're cooking! Now we just need to go about gathering this Allison girl and as many volunteers as we can get our hands on, and we'll be good to go for tracking down those suspects!" The other Konoha natives, as well as some of the Loud siblings, cheered a bit now that a solid plan of action to go after the attackers had just been formed.

* * *

To the surprise of Harold and the rest of the party from Konoha, in addition to getting Lori's friend Allison Ace, they also got Aggro, who is the twin brother of Allison, as well as the boyfriend of Leni and the Kendo instructor of Lincoln. To round things off, Luna and her girlfriend Sam also showed up to the discussion, bringing the total number of those that were getting involved up to nine, thus allowing for three teams of three.

"Okay, gang," Harold said to the team that was thrown together for tracking down the attackers from the incident at Royal Woods Mall the previous day, "There are three bozos currently on the loose here in Royal Woods. The nine of us represent the best of the best that Royal Woods has to offer in regards to stopping said bozos, capturing them, and maybe get some info out of them so we can figure out why they're up to what they're doing."

"Yeah, exactly," Inoichi remarked, "We just need to figure out how we're going to get the information out of them, though, because I doubt that they'll just up and tell us everything that we want to know."

Kuromaru, with a somewhat dry look on his face, turned his head to look up at the Yamanaka patriarch. "…Inoichi, you can scan a person's mind and find out precisely what they're thinking," the Inuzuka ninkin pointed out, "If we capture any of the attackers and they refuse to tell us what we want to know straight up, you can just scan their minds and get the information that we want that way." Suddenly, Kuromaru, having sensed that he was being looked at, looked around and saw the Ace twins and Sam all looking at him. "…What?" Kuromaru asked.

"Luna," Aggro began when he turned his attention to the musically inclined Loud sister, the look on his face showing that confused surprise was showing through his otherwise stoic air that he usually gave off, "When you and Leni-chan called Allison and I over earlier, you two never said anything about there being a talking dog."

"Yeah, babe," Sam said in the same mildly concerned tone as Aggro when she herself turned to face her girlfriend, "I'm going to want an explanation about the talking dog myself."

Allison, as she shrugged indifferently, merely said, "I just assumed that the All-father had blessed this dog with the gift of tongue."

"I'll explain that later, dudes," Luna replied to Sam and Aggro, "For the time being, we need to go over team formations in regards to going after the three attackers from the incident at Royal Woods Mall yesterday."

Pointing to his pupil in a commending manner, Harold said, "She's got it right on the money, everyone." With all eyes on him, the Fisher patriarch said, "Okay, here's what I got planned for team formations. Team 'A', which will consist of myself, Luna and her girlfriend, and we'll go after Car Insurance Ninja. Team 'B', which will consist of Inoichi, Sakura and the young man with the bokken, and they'll go after Edgy retail store Man. That leaves Team 'C' as Tsume, Kuromaru and the girl with the golf club, and they'll track down Psychotic School Girl."

"Sounds as good a plan as any, Mr. Fisher," Aggro remarked, "Anyway, I don't suppose that there are any ideas on where any of these suspects may strike next?"

"I was just getting to that," Harold replied, clapping his hands together before pointing to Aggro in a commending manner, "Anyway, since the suspects tried attacking the stuff over in the large plot of land next to Royal Woods Mall, methinks that they may try to strike it again, as from what Tsume said, they seemed quite intent on raising hell there." Tsume nodded in agreement, showing that her friend had all of the facts that he was talking about.

Pointing to Inoichi, Harold said, "Inoichi, bro, dude, I need you and your group to go to the plot of land next to Royal Woods Mall to keep an eye on things there."

Giving his closest friend a salute, Inoichi replied, "You can count on me, captain."

"Tsume, you and your group go check out various other areas here in Royal Woods that a teenage girl might be interested in, given that your target is a teenage girl," Harold said.

"Got it," Tsume replied, giving a single nod in the affirmative.

Jerking his right thumb at his chest, the Fisher patriarch said, "That will just leave me, Luna and Sam to go to the local zoo."

"The…" Sakura began, her expression and tone both displaying some mild confusion, "…Local zoo, Uncle Harold?"

"Car Insurance Ninja probably has some sort of familial connection to lizards and other such creatures," Harold began to explain, "Knowing that, he'll probably swing by the zoo to visit some of his distant relatives that the zoo is keeping. In fact, he may even feel inspired to try and free some of said relatives. It would have the benefit of causing a nice distraction for whatever he and the other suspects are truly trying to pull off."

Both Inoichi and Tsume nodded in agreement with what Harold had explained. In fact, Inoichi even said, "That makes sense to me."

Clapping his hands together, Harold said, "Alright, team, let's get to it!" The rest of the people gathered to handle the business of tracking down the three attackers from the attack at Royal Woods Mall all gave a rallying cheer before they separated and proceeded to head out to their respective destinations.

* * *

Later that day, Harold was at the local zoo in Royal Woods, accompanied by Luna and Sam. "Okay, girls," the Fisher patriarch said to Luna and Sam, "We need to keep an eye out for Car Insurance Ninja. It wouldn't hurt if we were to also keep an eye out for Edgy retail store Man and Psychotic School girl, in case they decide to go to different areas than we anticipated."

"You got it, Harold-sensei," Luna replied in the affirmative. Harold and the girls also made sure that their location buttons were working properly; these buttons were electronic items that clipped onto a person's belt, and if you press it, it'll send a signal to the other two that will give those who have them a general idea of where the button that was pressed is located, with beeping coming from the other two buttons getting louder as they approach the one that was pressed.

Harold and the girls would split up and look around the zoo, and if any of them were to find one of the suspects from the attack at Royal Woods Mall, they would press their respective button to signal the other two that they need help. The other two teams also had buttons like this, and will carry out a similar plan if they came across anything. The signals wouldn't be strong enough to alert _all_ teams, so if a team found one of the suspects, that team was on its own.

Still, it shouldn't be too big of an issue for one of the teams to handle catching one of the suspects, especially since each team had at least one Konoha ninja on it. Harold, Luna and Sam split up from each other at the entrance area of the zoo, with Harold going in the direction of the giraffe exhibit, Luna wandering over to where the rhino pen was, and Sam going towards some pens that had African mammals such as Zebras and wildebeests.

…

Over where Harold was at over by the giraffe exhibit, the Fisher patriarch was hanging around while looking over at the long-necked animal in the habitat, carefully sneaking glances around at everyone else in that area without making others aware that he was looking around. During one of the looks he got of the giraffe, Harold was dumbfounded by the fact that such an animal can even exist. "_I wonder how long it would take for one of these things to drink a beer_," Harold thought as he looked at the giraffe, "_One would figure that it would take a rather long time due how long this fucker_'_s neck is_."

"Wow, this animal looks weird, huh?" a young female voice said off to Harold's side, "I mean, just how does it live with having such a long neck? I mean, if my neck was that long, it would make things really tough for me to French kiss my Izu-kun." Having heard the voice talking away at his side, Harold turned his attention to the speaker and, to his surprise, he saw that it was Toga (or as he and the others are calling her, Psychotic School Girl).

"Yeah, young lady," Harold remarked as he discreetly pressed his signal button, located on the left side of his belt and hidden by the fairly long hem of his shirt. Toga, having heard Harold speak to her, turned her attention to face him, not having seen or noticed Harold's movement to touch something on the side of his belt. The blonde school girl looked up at the Fisher patriarch, giving him a curious look.

Harold was a bit nervous that he was being looked at by one of the suspects that he and the rest of his forces were trying to track down. However, Toga was unaware that the shinobi from the elemental nations, who she and her fellows were trying to track down, were trying to track down her and her fellows in return. She didn't even know that Harold was one of those very shinobi, as she and her fellows only had info on Tsume and Kuromaru.

Harold further relaxed (although he didn't show anything lest he clue Toga in on that he was trying to find her and her fellows) when Toga said, "You're hair is a really funny color, mister." Giving an indifferent shrug, Toga continued, "But then again, my Izu-kun has green hair, so who am I to question you having pink hair?"

"Umm, yeah," Harold remarked, feeling a bit conflicted when he realized that the girl he was talking to, who is one of the suspects from the attack at Royal Woods Mall, couldn't have been too much older than his student Luna. Toga probably has, at most, about a year or so over the musically inclined Loud sister, maybe two. To think that a girl of such a young age would have stooped to committing acts of terror alongside a lizard ninja man that sold car insurance and the poster child of people who regularly shop at edgy retail stores at shopping malls.

Toga caught on to a bit of the conflict that Harold seemed to be feeling, because she gave him a curious look as she looked up at him. "…Hey mister, are you okay?" Toga asked, "You seemed a bit worried about something."

"Oh, I'm just wondering where my grandniece and her girlfriend have wandered off to is all," Harold replied, able to lie through his teeth and not draw the psychotic girl's suspicion, "Those two wanted to come here to the zoo and see some of the animals."

"Ooh, you mean like a date?" Toga asked, sounding interested in what Harold had just told her, "Maybe I can take my Izu-kun with me to go to the zoo back where we live once I get back to Japan. I bet he'll love to see the animals with me, and I'll convince him to dump that woman that he's dating because she's a little over twice his age and that I'm way cuter than-"

"Harold-sensei!" Luna's voice called out, cutting Toga off as she came running up to the side that was closer to the psychotic school. Similarly, Sam came running up to the side closer to Harold; the two girls had seen Harold keeping one of the suspects from the mall attack distracted, which allowed them to go around from either side and cut off Toga's escape from being caught by them.

Seeing that his student and her girlfriend had arrived, Harold jumped back by about a foot while pointing at Toga. "She's the Psychotic School Girl from the attack at the mall yesterday!" Harold exclaimed, "Don't let her escape!"

"Damn it!" Toga swore as she reached into a pocket on the front of her cardigan and pulled out a pocket knife, realizing that she had just been caught by part of the party that the older woman and the dog from yesterday belong to, "Are you three guys part of the group that's trying to track me, Dabi and Spinner down?"

"It's no use trying to get out of here, brah," Luna told the psychotic girl in a tone of warning as she and Sam surrounded her, "Now just drop the knife and come along with us quietly."

Scoffing a bit in an annoyed tone, Toga opted to jump up over a large decoration made of stone that held dirt and a few large plants, trying to escape by going that direction rather than try to force her way past either Luna or Sam. "Damn it," Sam swore as she and Luna began to run around the large stone decoration to go after Toga, "She's getting away! We can't let her-" Sam was cut off when Harold, who had leaped into the giraffe pen, leapt back out while riding on the back of that same giraffe.

Charging after the fleeing psychotic girl on the back of his new steed, Harold said, "I'll go on ahead, girls! You two get some rides and come after me!"

As the two teenage girls watched the Fisher patriarch chase after one of the attack suspects on the back of a zoo animal, Sam said in a dumbfounded tone of subdued surprise, "…Babe, did your old music tutor just steal a giraffe form the zoo so he could chase after a fleeing suspect in what was essentially a terrorist attack at the mall?"

"Pfft, Harold-sensei and his friends have done weirder shit," Luna remarked in a dismissive tone, unsurprised in the least that Harold had just stolen a giraffe.

Looking at her girlfriend with a confused, befuddled look for a few seconds before said look turned into one of surprised amusement, the blonde Sharp girl said, "…I'm going back to where I saw the zebras."

"I'm going back to where I was at before we both got the distress signal from Harold-sensei," the musically inclined Loud sister said before she and Sam broke away to go about doing what they both have planned respectively."

* * *

In the residential part of Royal Woods where the Loud residence was located, Lincoln was sitting on the steps that led up the front patio, looking into the front yard as some of his younger sisters played there. "Hey Lincoln," Lana called out from where she was sitting on the ground near a puddle of mud, "You sure you don't want to join me?"

"Lana, he just got done being hurt," Lola pointed out with a scoff to her older twin sister, "The last thing that he needs is to be dirty."

The sole Loud boy chuckled with mild amusement as he looked over to where the twins were playing, knowing that Lucy and Lisa could be trusted to not pop in while he was trying to address the two blonde girls. "Lana, Lola," Lincoln began, "I'm just keeping an eye on the two of you, as well as Lucy and Lisa. Besides, I'm wearing new clothes, so I don't want to get them stained with-"

Lincoln was interrupted midsentence when he, as well as all of his little sisters that were in the front yard of their family's house, heard what sounded like a teenage girl yell out in alarm. Looking over, Lincoln and his younger sisters all saw a blonde teenage girl running towards their general direction, with Lincoln, Lucy and Lisa recognizing said girl as the female suspect whose picture was passed around earlier that morning during breakfast.

Lincoln, worried that the psychotic girl might be a threat given her involvement in the attack at Royal Woods Mall, was about to usher his younger sisters into the house, but he and his sisters all took pause when they saw a full-grown giraffe running after her. A few seconds later, and the younger Loud children saw that Harold was riding on the back of the giraffe; Harold had also gotten ahold of a longsword somehow.

Toga, as she randomly ran closer to the Loud residence, tripped and fell over, thankfully landing mostly on the Loud family's front lawn. As she laid there prone, Harold pulled op on the back of the giraffe that he was riding. Rearing his giraffe up as he pulled up to the Loud residence, the Fisher patriarch said as he held his longsword up, "We must protect the Runestone!"

"What runestone?" Lincoln asked, giving Harold an inquisitive look, "What are you even talking about, Mr. Fisher? Also, where are Luna and Sam?"

At that moment, the Loud siblings heard someone else riding close to their family's home on what sounded like another animal; it sounded like someone was riding a horse. Before long, Sam pulled up next to Harold on the back of a zebra. "Woo!" the blonde Sharp girl cheered as she pumped a fist into the air, "Now _that_ was one hell of a ride!"

"Did you two actually steal those animals from the local zoo?!" Lisa asked incredulously as Harold got off the back of the giraffe he was riding and went over to Toga, put her hands behind her back, and slapped a pair of cuffs onto her. As the Fisher patriarch got the psychotic girl to her feet, the brainy Loud sister continued, "Well, it's good that you have just captured one of the people involved in the attack on Royal Woods Mall yesterday, but that doesn't answer the other part of my older brother unit's question. Where is our musically inclined older sister unit?"

At that moment, everyone heard what sounded like a stampeding animal running through their area of the neighborhood. Seconds later, Luna pulled up next to Sam, riding on the back of a _fucking rhino_. The purple-clad Loud sister held her arms in front of her, the forearms crossed and forming a sort of x-shaped pattern. As Luna held her arms up in front of herself like this, she shouted, "Wakanda forever!"

Sighing in a resigned tone, Lisa said, "…Aww, just forget about it."

"Done and done," Harold remarked casually as he led the captured Toga to the Loud family's garage.

END, RUNESTONE CHAPTER THREE

Author's notes:

Don't worry, the animals that Harold, Luna and Sam had 'borrowed' from the local zoo will be returned, and various charges against them will be dropped as a favor to them for their service in capturing one of the persons involved in the attack at Royal Woods Mall, which the local police have declared was an act of terrorism. And that gets us to the main point here; Harold and his party have just captured one of the three attackers that were involved in the Royal Woods Mall incident, which means that they'll be able to get some info on what they were really up to.

But it won't be as easy as they'll think; in fact, Dabi and Spinner, as they're going to find out about how Toga was captured, will look into collecting their associate. There's more fighting to be had in chapters to come, and who knows if Harold and company will be able to get some of that all-important information out of Toga via Inoichi's special clan-exclusive techniques before things go south. Stay tuned if you want to see where this crossover will go next.


	4. Chapter 4

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House', BNHA/MHA, Naruto or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

We must protect the Runestone!

Chapter four: A suspect is interrogated, also there's some chaos at the police station

Officers from Royal Woods local police department, along with a few employees from Royal Woods' local zoo, went to the Loud residence due to reports made of people riding zoo animals and one of the suspects from the attack at Royal Woods Mall being caught and is currently held by a visiting citizen. As the zoo employees loaded a giraffe, a zebra and a rhino into the back of a few animal transportation trucks, the other teams that had went out to track down the suspects returned to the Loud residence and went right to the garage.

When Inoichi, Tsume, Kuromaru, Sakura, and the Ace twins entered the Loud family's garage, they all saw the same sight; Toga, one of the suspects from the attack on Royal Woods Mall, was seated in an armless wooden chair, her arms looped around the chair's back and probably cuffed with a pair of handcuffs. Harold, Luna and Sam, who had previously located the psychotic girl at the local zoo, were standing around keeping an eye on her until the police were ready to collect her and take her to the station for questioning.

"Yeah, the local cops were pretty thrilled to hear that there are shinobi from Konoha here in Royal Woods trying to track down the attackers from the incident at Royal Woods Mall," Harold said to the returning groups. Rubbing the middle knuckles of his right fingers against his chest, the Fisher patriarch said in a sort of smug tone, "I bet that they're happy to have superior backup helping out with capturing the terrorists."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Sakura said, "Yes, yes, Uncle Harold. Us lending our skills to the local police here is a boon to their efforts to stop whatever scheme is going on." Gently shaking her head, the Uchiha woman continued, "Either way, either you, me, Mr. Yamanaka or Mrs. Inuzuka here is going to have to write up a report about this incident when we get back to Konoha, because there's no way in hell that Naruto will _not_ want a report about this incident that we have gotten ourselves involved in."

"Oh come on, Mrs. Uchiha," Luna said, "You can be uptight later. Right now, we got to strike while the iron's hot!" Gesturing to where the captured Toga sat, Luna continued, "We got one of the suspects from the Royal Woods Mall attack right here!"

Inoichi nodded in agreement with the student of his closest friend. "Luna has a point, Sakura," the Yamanaka patriarch commented before taking a step towards the captured Toga, "In fact, I can take a crack at getting some info out of her right now."

Toga, despite the situation that she found herself in, scoffed incredulously. "Oh sure, like you can make me talk," the psychotic girl replied, confident that the older man would be unable to get anything out of her.

In response to Toga's bravado, Inoichi merely smiled in a self-amused manner. "…Well it's a good thing that I can scan your mind and get the info that I want that way," Inoichi replied, prompting Toga to go a bit wide-eyed with worry. Toga tried to get up when Inoichi approached her, but Luna and Sam held her down, pushing down against her shoulders to keep her from getting back up.

As Toga struggled under the musically inclined Loud sister and the blonde Sharp girl, Inoichi stood in front of her and reached out with his right hand, placing it right over Toga's forehead. When he did that, the Yamanaka patriarch initiated his mind-scanning powers; upon the activation of said powers, Toga went slack and entered a sort of dazed state, a sign to Luna and Sam that they no longer had to worry about helping to keep the psychotic girl down in her seat.

…

When Inoichi entered Toga's mind, he was surprised to find himself outside of a pair of large double doors in a fancy, ornate hallway in a grandiose home that clearly looked like it was located in the United States. Inoichi made a note of this, paying careful attention as he looked around at his surroundings so he could provide these details to the local police later. Turning his attention to the large double doors, Inoichi opened them both and stepped into the room that the doors led into.

When he was inside the room, he looked around; the Yamanaka patriarch immediately spotted Toga standing next to the other two suspects from the Royal Woods Mall attack. Sitting in very exquisite armchairs across from where Toga, Dabi and Spinner stood were two men, neither of which Inoichi recognized. One was a gray-haired man in a purple outfit and wearing a scarf, and the other was a somewhat shorter, notably fat man whose face was foggy; Inoichi knew that this fogginess was a sign that Toga forgot what the fat man's face looked like.

"Well shit," Inoichi swore to himself, "These two men that the Psychotic School Girl and her fellows are talking to here are obviously people of importance, and it sucks that the girl forgot what the fat man's face looks like." After Inoichi swore to himself, he continued to watch on as more of the memory that he was looking at began to play out.

"So how will we deal with that older woman and her dog?" Dabi asked, "They're both shinobi from one of the elemental nations, so we can't just go about our business without first addressing the two of them. We also have to look out for any other shinobi from the elemental nations that are running around here."

Gesturing to Dabi, the man in the purple outfit said, "It looks like we have more on our plate than we had anticipated. Of course, you, Toga and Spinner here will be able to deal with this newest development in our efforts to assist our partner here in securing his efforts to buy up that plot of land, won't you?"

"Once those shinobi and any others that might be running around are dealt with, sure," Dabi replied, "We can't afford to fail here, considering how much our friend here is paying us to get rid of the competition so he can buy that land, develop on it, and eventually work his way into buying up the rest of that area, including the mall itself."

"And when I do accomplish all of that," the foggy-faced fat man said, his tone calculating and knowing, "I'll be even richer than I have even been before. Of course, I will be bumping up how much I'm paying you guys due to this unforeseen blip in the plan. These 'shinobi' as they are called could potentially ruin me. That cannot be allowed to happen."

The man in the purple outfit, Dabi and Spinner all nodded in agreement; Inoichi saw that Toga had a look on her face that pretty much made it clear that she had zoned the fuck out. Noticing this little bit, Inoichi figured that would explain why Toga had forgotten what the fat man's face looked like. Figuring that he had gotten as much as he could out of scanning this memory of Toga's, the Yamanaka patriarch floated out of the scene, and returned to reality.

…

Inoichi's eyes, which he had closed while he was concentrating on scanning Toga's mind, opened once he returned to himself. "…Well now," Inoichi said to Toga as she slowly started to return to reality herself. Giving the right side of her face a gentle pat, Inoichi continued, "Thanks for letting me take a quick peek at that little meeting that you had with your fellows just now."

"Hey," Toga began in an annoyed, somewhat pouty tone as she looked up at Inoichi, "What did you just do to me?"

"I read your mind to look at your recent memory of talking to the Edgy looking guy, that lizard man, that man in the purple and that fat man with the foggy face," Inoichi replied.

"Fat man with the foggy face?" Aggro repeated in a confused tone, prompting Inoichi to look over to where Aggro leaned with his back in one of the corners of the garage. The male Ace twin was leaning against the left-hand corner (from your point of view if you're in the garage and facing the garage door), with his older twin sister Allison in the right-hand corner opposite of Aggro. Sakura was leaning in the left rear corner of the garage, and Tsume was leaning in the right rear corner. With an inquisitive look on his face, Aggro continued, "Does this 'fat man with a foggy face' have anything to do with the attack on the mall yesterday?"

Nodding once in the affirmative, Inoichi explained, "The girl we captured, her two fellow attackers, and some guy in a purple suit were talking to some fat man in a fancy and ornately decorated lounge room in the memory that I had just scanned. They were talking about details about how the fat man is aiming to claim the plot of land that was attacked for himself, with a few more bits concerning an overarching plan to buy out the mall itself. From what I was able to see, the fat man is aiming to further bolster his wealth, so I'm guessing that he's a very corrupt businessman that hired this girl and her fellows to attack that plot of land next to the mall."

"What about the man in the purple outfit that you said you saw, dude?" Harold asked as he stepped forward towards Inoichi.

Gently shaking his head, Inoichi said, "Sorry, bro, I didn't get his name. But unlike with the fat man, the purple-suit man's face wasn't foggy, so the girl here remembers who he is." Turning his attention back to Toga, Inoichi said, "That being said, you better start talking when the police get you down to the station."

"Hey, you read my mind," Toga complained, "That's cheating!"

Holding his arms out at length with the palms facing forward, Inoichi replied in a somewhat taunting tone, "That's how we do things over in Konohagakure, little girl." Inoichi's taunt got a chuckle out of Harold and Tsume; even Kuromaru couldn't help but chuckle a bit, although his chuckle stemmed from the fact that not only were the trio of idiots actually taking something of great importance seriously, but they were actually getting details that can help solve the case. The talking Inuzuka ninkin never thought that he'd live to see this day.

* * *

A few hours later, officers from the RWPD had Toga in an interrogation room down at the local police station. The party from Konoha was also down there, as were Luna, Sam and the Ace twins, as they were all involved with trying to track down the suspects from the Royal Woods Mall attack, and Harold, Luna and Sam had to answer a few questions about them borrowing a few of the animals from the local zoo, even though charges in that regard were dropped after the three of them provided the details, mostly because they were successful in capturing a suspect from the aforementioned attack.

Toga sat in a metal chair across from where Officer Schoffner sat at the small metal table in the interrogation room. Flipping through a printed file that was provided to her, Schoffner said to Toga, "So, Miss Himiko Toga, you're quite the young lady. We confiscated multiple syringes from you when you were brought in, along with a knife store's worth of various knives." Putting the file she was holding down, Schoffner gave the psychotic girl a wry look. "I can only assume that you've got a fascination of sorts for blood, don't you?" the woman officer asked.

"Well why wouldn't I?" Toga asked, "I mean, blood is awesome! I can be everyone that I love by using their blood!"

Schoffner's eyes darted over to the wall behind Toga; leaning against that wall were Harold and Inoichi, the former of which twirled his right index finger while it pointed at his right temple, a gesture that made it clear that he found what Toga had said, and by extension Toga herself, to be firmly on the crazy side. The woman officer wouldn't be all that quick to disagree with Harold. Schoffner returned her focus to the psychotic girl that sat cuffed to the metal table in front of her.

Giving Toga a wry look, the woman officer said, "Young lady, I'm going to have to ask you to give me everything that you have about the fat man with the foggy face that Mr. Yamanaka here discovered when he interrogated you."

Toga scowled a bit, her expression denoting how annoyed she was at the moment. "First off," the psychotic girl began, "I still don't like that he read my mind like that. Second off, I forgot what the fat man's name is. I don't even remember what his face looks like. All that I remember about him is that he's fat." Sighing wistfully, Toga said, "He's the complete opposite of my darling Izu-kun, if I'm to be honest here."

"We're getting nowhere fast with this girl," Schoffner said as she turned her attention to Harold and Inoichi, "Do either of you guys have any ideas?"

"We can try a little bit of good cop bad cop," Harold offered with a shrug.

Giving Harold a dry look, Toga pointed out, "That probably won't work since you talked about it in front of me."

"Damn it," Harold remarked, snapping his fingers in a disappointed manner.

"I got an idea," Inoichi said, "But I need the both of you to roll with me on this one." Stepping forward towards Toga, Inoichi said when he reached her, "Young lady, if you do not provide me, my main man Harold and this nice officer lady here with what we want to know, then I will track down this 'Izu-kun' that you talk a lot about and…" Leaning down so that he was close to Toga's left ear, the Yamanaka patriarch whispered something so that only the psychotic girl was able to hear what he said.

Looking up at Inoichi, Toga said with a look of panic on her face, "You wouldn't dare!"

"I can scan your mind again to find out what he looks like," Inoichi said in a warning tone, "After that, it'll just be a matter of tracking him down and doing what I said."

"Okay, okay, okay, give me a minute to think," Toga said. Collecting her breath a bit, Toga gave what she was thinking about a lot of consideration. "The fat man…" Toga began, "…Was an older person, I'd say around your age. He's also got-" Toga was cut off when an explosion had sounded off from somewhere in the area of the police station, startling everyone in the station, including Harold, Inoichi, Schoffner and even Toga.

Recollecting herself after having nearly fallen out of her seat, Schoffner exclaimed, "What in the hell was that just now?! Are we under attack?!"

Harold and Inoichi proceeded to leave the interrogation room, with Harold saying to the woman officer, "Stay here and keep an eye on our guest." Schoffner nodded in agreement as she and Toga watched the older men from Konoha take off to see what was going on.

* * *

As Harold and Inoichi made their way out to where they were hearing all of the noise coming from, they started to see smoke, suggesting something had caught fire. When they made their way to the thick of things, the two older men saw that Toga's two companions, Dabi and Spinner, were in the police station, with Dabi conjuring mass amounts of his blue fire to throw around and ignite everything. Due to the wall of blue flames that he had conjured, Dabi was able to keep Sakura, Tsume and Kuromaru from getting to him and Spinner, who deflected a kunai Sakura threw with his katana.

"The hell's going on here?!" Harold shouted.

Looking over, Sakura saw her older uncle. "Uncle Harold!" the Uchiha woman shouted, "These two guys showed up to try and spring their teammate that you captured!"

"Hey, where the hell are Luna, her girlfriend and those Ace twins?" Inoichi asked.

"I sent them home because this is something that we have to deal with," Sakura explained, "I don't want civilians getting caught up in a fight between shinobi and people with superpowers." Sakura tried throwing another kunai at Spinner, but he deflected it with his katana again.

As Sakura hissed in an annoyed tone, Dabi yelled, "Alright, you American pigs! All that my friend here and I came here for is to get our friend and get the hell out of here! If you don't let her go, then I'll be forced to burn this entire police station down!" Conjuring more of his blue flames, Dabi loudly said in a tone of warning, "It wouldn't be the first time that I have ever committed arson!"

"Oh shit!" Kuromaru yelled as he jumped back to avoid the harsh licking of Dabi's blue flames, landing safely about a foot and a half back.

When Kuromaru jumped back to avoid Dabi's fire, the Edgy looking man saw a few police officers standing somewhere behind where the talking ninkin used to stand; these officers, both of them women, looked like green cops fresh out of the academy, and they were both paralyzed with fear (but then again, there's some guy walking around shooting blue fire out of his hands, so that's understandable). Thinking quickly, Dabi sent some of his blue flames flying right at these two women officers, striking both of them and making them cry out in alarm and pain.

As the two women officers fell over, distracting the whole Konoha party and everyone else that was looking on, Dabi and Spinner used that chance to run down the hallway where Harold and Inoichi had walked out of to see what was causing the noise and smoke. After the blue fire that was on the two women officers was put out and Sakura went about healing both of them, Harold and his friends all ran after Dabi and Spinner in hot pursuit.

…

Harold, with Inoichi, Tsume and Kuromaru running after him, turned the corner in the hallway that led to the interrogation room that Schoffner had Toga in. When the older Konoha ninja saw the door leading to that very interrogation room was open and some blue flames flew out from the open door, they ran right over, only to stop when Spinner came walking out while holding Schoffner hostage, keeping one of his daggers to her throat. Walking out of the interrogation room after the lizard man was Dabi and a now free Toga.

Gesturing to his fellow who was holding Schoffner hostage, Dabi said as he addressed Harold and his party, "Yeah, shinobi from one of the elemental nations. As you can see, my associates and I have miss police woman here as a hostage." Giving the older shinobi a knowing look, Dabi continued, "I suppose I don't have to spell out for you how this will go down."

"You son of a bitch," Harold swore angrily, pointing an accusing finger at Dabi.

"Yeah, Dabi says all the time how his father is a total bitch," Toga remarked with a shrug.

With a mildly confused look, Harold replied, "Umm, I was actually saying that in reference to the guy's moth-"

"MY MOTHER IS A SAINT, YOU FUCKER!" Dabi bellowed, his face twisted into a visage of rage and fury upon hearing Harold refer to his (Dabi's) mother as a bitch. The edgy-looking man then fired a mass torrent of his blue flames right at Harold and the other older Konoha ninjas, making them all jump back to avoid the horrible blue flames. With the additional distance that was made between their party and the Konoha party, Dabi and his fellows ran down the hall to a door that would lead out of the police station and to freedom for them, but not before Dabi shot Harold two middle fingers.

When the blue flames died down enough to allow them to pass, Harold and his group ran after the fleeing suspects in the Royal Woods Mall attack. Dabi and his group ran through the door that granted them escape, and Spinner, taking the dagger blade he had against Schoffner's neck away, used the dagger to leave a rather nasty slash over her right shoulder blade, making the woman officer cry out in pain as she was thrown to the ground by Spinner, who proceeded to run off with Dabi and Toga.

By the time Harold and his group ran out the door, the suspects were long gone and Schoffner was trying to get up while reaching over her right shoulder with her left hand to try and cover the bleeding. Harold and Inoichi both proceeded to help Schoffner to her feet, with Inoichi taking off his haori and using it to try to stem the bleeding from Schoffner's dagger wound. Since the police station started to go up in flames, everyone that was inside had to be evacuated. It was to the incredible luck of everyone that no one had died, mostly thanks to the unquestionable medic ninja skills of Sakura, who Harold spotted exiting the police building. He called her over and had her get to work on healing Schoffner right away.

* * *

"Well this was a hot train wreck of a mess," Kuromaru remarked as the local fire department worked tirelessly to put out the flames that were working tirelessly to consume the police station. Looking around at everyone who had vacated from the police station, the talking ninkin said, "Not only did we fail to get anything on the fat man that Inoichi learned about from reading that crazy girl's mind, but the crazy girl herself escaped when her fellows came here to spring her. Not only that, but the police station is now up in flames."

Harold and the others looked over to where Sakura was healing a police officer who was sitting on a bench, the upper right quarter of his uniform top burned away and some burn marks covering his right shoulder and pectoral areas. Looking up at the humans that were in his group, Kuromaru said, "And we're still no closer to figuring out who that fat man is."

"I wouldn't be too sure," Inoichi said, trying to raise as much hope as possible, "Harold and I did get it from that crazy girl that the fat man is about the same age as the two of us and Tsume. That narrows down the suspects to fat men that are in their early sixties, give or take a few years."

"And we also discovered that Edgy retail store Man has a soft spot for his mother and a burning dislike for his father," Harold added, "Given how he reacted when I clarified that I was referring to his mother when I called him a son of a bitch. That's something that we can add to the profile that we have on him."

"Plus we got what all three of them look like," Tsume went on, "_And_ given what went down here at the police station, their faces will be all over the local news." Crossing her arms over her chest, the Inuzuka matriarch said, "I think that things will start to go more favorably for us when it comes to trying to track down those guys from the attack at Royal Woods Mall."

Kuromaru, after considering what the older ninja were talking about as he looked up at them, sighed and said, "I guess that we have at least something." As Kuromaru spoke, Sakura came walking up to the group.

Gently dusting her hands off, the Uchiha woman said, "I just healed the last of the people who were injured in the attack at the police station here. Thankfully, no hospital trips are needed for anyone." Putting her left hand on her hip, Sakura continued, "Just what in the hell happened? How can that guy conjure blue flames like that? Not to mention what was up with that lizard man and whatever is going on with that girl that they sprung from the station."

"We were able to get one additional bit on the fat man that Inoichi learned about when he scanned that crazy girl's mind," Harold informed his adult niece, "According to the crazy girl, the fat man is roughly the same age as me, Inoichi and Tsume, judging by appearances."

Giving her uncle an inquisitive look, Sakura replied, "So what? Do we write up a list of every overweight man living in the Royal Woods area that's in his early sixties? Uncle Harold, do you have any idea how long that may take?"

With a shrug, Harold replied, "It shouldn't be too difficult to find a data bank around here somewhere that we can poke for information. Not to mention that I'm pretty sure that the local police here will be willing to help us write up a list of potential suspects, given that the guys from the attack at the mall have now attacked the police station here."

As the group from Konoha talked amongst themselves, Luna came running up to them, alongside Sam and Lincoln. The sole Loud boy was wearing a newer outfit that consisted of a white long-sleeved shirt worn under an orange shirt similar to the green shirt Bobby Santiago wears and a pair of tannish cargo pants held up with a belt. Everything else about his wardrobe remained the same before the update.

"Harold-sensei!" Luna said in an alarmed and worried tone as she and her group reached the Konoha party, "What the hell happened here?!"

Pointing to the burning police station, Harold explained, "The edgy guy and the lizard guy came in and sprung their female fellow that I captured from interrogation. Also, the edgy guy made his blue fires come out and burn everything."

"What still beats me is how that man can conjure blue flames without weaving any ninja hand signs," Sakura remarked, "From what's been observed about him, all he did was hold his hands out and the blue flames flew out from his hands, as if by his will. That lizard man is likewise just as much of an enigma."

Harold and his friends proceeded to join Sakura in wondering about the suspects, as did Luna and Sam. As the lot of them all wondered about the suspects from the attack, their attention was caught by Lincoln when he suddenly said, "I think that I may have an idea on who the person behind those criminals might be."

Everyone turned to face the sole Loud boy, with Harold saying, "Well young man, who do you think it might be?"

"Well I already know that the person who had the foggy face in the memory that Mr. Yamanaka saw was fat," Lincoln began.

Nodding in agreement, Inoichi said, "Aye, that he is. I also just got it that the fat man is in his early sixties, the same age range as me, Harold and Tsume." In response to this, both Harold and Tsume nodded in the affirmative.

A brief flash of realization seemed to cross the white-haired boy's face when he heard Inoichi confirm the fat man's possible age. "…Yeah, that fits right into the puzzle that's slowly coming together in my head," Lincoln said, "So the man with the foggy face from the memory you saw was fat, had to be at least sixty years of age." Gesturing to the Konoha party, Lincoln continued, "Given that the criminals that attacked the construction machines on the plot of land next to the mall, and that they're connected to this fat man in his sixties, my guess is that the fat man has to be on the wealthy side of things."

The Konoha party members all nodded in agreement with what the sole Loud boy just suggested, with Sakura even saying, "That makes sense to me."

"Would it help if I mention that I just remembered from what I saw in that memory that I scanned that the fat man wasn't all that tall?" Inoichi offered. Looking at Lincoln for a bit, the Yamanaka patriarch continued, "In fact, I'd say that the fat man was barely taller than you."

Lincoln closed his eyes, looking like he was mulling over something in his mind, after he got the last bit that Inoichi had just offered. After a few moments, Lincoln opened his eyes again and looked at everyone that was there with him. "…I think that I know who is behind the criminals that attacked the plot next to the mall, as well as the attack on the police station just now," the sole Loud boy said, a hint of resignation in his tone.

END, RUNESTONE CHAPTER FOUR

Author's notes:

So the attack launched on the police station by Dabi and Spinner was successful in retrieving their teammate Toga from police custody, although the presence of the Konoha party made sure that there would be no casualties. And with the information that Harold and company had obtained, either through investigation or deductive reasoning, they finally have a possible lead to go after. Things will be hitting the fan soon, and when they do, they'll hit the fan _**hard**_.

Stay tuned to see where this will go next.


	5. Chapter 5

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House', BNHA/MHA, Naruto or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

We must protect the Runestone!

Chapter five: A climax is reached, also a one-off gag actually has a payoff

Harold and his group from Konoha were standing in the dining room of the Loud family's residence. They, along with Harold's student Luna, Luna's girlfriend Sam and Luna's younger brother Lincoln, all stood around behind where Lisa sat at the table, a laptop in front of her. The brainy Loud sister was running through a few programs on her laptop as everyone in the group was looking on.

"My program here will let me narrow down the list of potential suspects of who is the mysterious backer of the trio of criminals that attacked the plot of land next to Royal Woods Mall, and had just attacked the local police station," Lisa said as she typed away at her laptop. After the brainy Loud sister brought up the program she was talking about, she turned to face the Konoha party. "I'll just need you to provide me with the details that you have," Lisa said.

Nodding in understanding, Harold said, "We know that the suspect is a fat man who's at least sixty years of age. He's also barely taller than your and Luna's brother, and we have reason to suspect that he's a rather wealthy individual since the trio of people who attacked all of the construction machines on the plot of land next to the mall had done so at his behest. Oh, and the guy's got to be a local."

Lisa nodded in the affirmative as she typed in all the details that she had been provided with. "Let me see here…" Lisa muttered aloud as she typed in the available details, "Local of Royal Woods…overweight man…at least sixty…slightly taller than Lincoln…wealthy…" After she had finished, Lisa hit 'enter' and the program she had up began to run, narrowing down all the people that could be the backer of the trio of criminals.

The program ran for a few seconds before Lisa's laptop made a 'ping' sound, indicating that it had finished. Everyone looked at the computer screen, and when they all saw the lone person that the program had pulled up, Lisa and Luna gasped in shock while Lincoln looked on with a look of grim confirmation, as if a sinking feeling that he had was just confirmed.

As for Sam and the party from Konoha, they were completely lost. With a confused look on her face, Sam pointed at the computer screen and asked, "Hey Lunes, babe, who is that fat sack of crap here that's got your cute little butt in a knot?"

"That's Lord Tetherby, Sam," the musically inclined Loud sister explained, "He's some rich asshole who tried to corrupt Lincoln when the little dude won a limo ride for a day."

Lincoln, with a resigned scowl on his face, said, "Please don't remind me, Luna."

The Konoha party looked at Tetherby's picture on Lisa's laptop screen. Inoichi said after looking at it for a few seconds, "Yeah, mmm hmm, yeah." Pointing at Tetherby's profile, Inoichi said, "This guy really fits the bill for the fat man with the foggy face that I saw in the memory that I scanned. He's our best bet for the person who's backing those three people that we've tangoed with more than once so far."

Clapping her hands together, Tsume said, "Well hot damn! Now that we got us a lead, let's go knock down the fat fuck's door and-"

"Tsume, you're forgetting that this man, assuming that he's the culprit that we're aiming to track down, has three people with bizarre abilities backing him up," Kuromaru pointed out, cutting Tsume off midsentence, "And there's also that guy in the purple suit that Inoichi saw as well. What if he shows up and he also has bizarre powers?"

"Kuromaru's right, Mrs. Inuzuka," Sakura pointed out, "First off, we need to figure out were this Tetherby fellow lives."

Holding up his right hand, Lincoln said, "I know where he lives." Sighing in a resigned tone, the sole Loud boy explained, "I been to his place when he tried to quote unquote 'corrupt me', so I can at least lead you to him."

Nodding to Lincoln, Sakura said, "Okay, that will be helpful, Lincoln. Thank you." To the rest of the people in the dining room, the Uchiha woman continued, "We also need to come up with a plan of how to go about confronting Tetherby. We'll also need to be ready in case any of those three people with the bizarre powers shows up and gets in our way." Holding her hand to her forehead, Sakura said, "Hoo boy, what I wouldn't give to have a squad of elite Konoha shinobi led by Sasuke right now."

Crossing her arms over her chest, Tsume said, "Sakura, now's not the time to fantasize about being with your husband, as skilled of a shinobi as Sasuke may be."

Returning an incredulous look to Tsume, Sakura explained, "Sasuke is experienced in dealing with fire element jitsu. He's probably the best bet that we could ever have to deal with that guy who can conjure and manipulate blue flames."

"…Oh," Tsume replied, looking a bit dumbfounded, "…Oh yeah. That would help."

Sighing in a resigned, mildly exasperated tone, Harold said, "Even if we did send back to Konoha for backup, it would take days for them to get here." Looking around at the rest of the Konoha party, the Fisher patriarch said, "I hate to say it, but I think that we're on our own here, everybody."

"Ah hell," Kuromaru swore, then after letting out a resigned sigh continued, "Yeah, Harold's right. We're going to have to suck it up and go right over to Tetherby's with what we have."

Gently shaking her head, Sakura said, "I am literally not looking forward to this." Luna, Lisa and even Lincoln snickered a bit upon hearing the Uchiha woman sound like their older sister Lori.

* * *

Later, when it was starting to get dark, the Loud family's van, Vanzilla, pulled up near Tetherby's mansion. Inside of the large and old family van were Lori in the driver's seat, Lincoln riding shotgun, and the whole of the Konoha party in the back. Pointing out the window (the side he sat on was facing the estate), Lincoln said, "Yeah, this is the place. Tetherby Mansion." Turning to face the shinobi who sat in the back, the sole Loud boy said, "I hope that you guys know what you're doing here."

"Young man, trust me," Harold remarked in a tone of reassurance. Gesturing to himself and his usual group of friends, the Fisher patriarch said, "The boys here and I have been doing missions like this since before Sakura was born. And as for Sakura herself, she's also been going above and beyond the call since before you were born. I think it would be safe to say that the lot of us have ample experience in dealing with the crazy."

Grumbling to himself, Kuromaru snarked, "That would be because _you_ tend to out-crazy the crazy yourself."

Without another word, the entirety of the Konoha party got out of Vanzilla and proceeded to rush in towards Tetherby mansion. When they threw open the large doors leading into the main front area of the large expansive house, Harold and company were surprised ambushed by Spinner, who went a bit wide-eyed in surprise upon seeing the Konoha party's rather forceful entrance at that moment.

The lizard man tried to rush the Konoha party as he drew his katana from the scabbard over his back, but Sakura, enhancing her strength with her chakra as she was taught by Tsunade, threw a rather staggering punch right into Spinner's stomach, cutting off his attack and sending him flying away, crash-landing on a luxurious sofa. At least Spinner's unconscious form landed on something soft; he didn't need to hit his head while he was out cold.

"That dude's one of the criminals that attacked the construction machines on the plot of land next to the local mall," Tsume said as she and the others saw Spinner's knocked-out form land with a 'flump' on the sofa, "He was also with the edgy fire guy when they broke the psychotic girl out of police holding down at the station! His presence here gives more credit to the idea that the fat fuck we're here to see is the guy behind everything!"

Harold nodded in agreement before saying, "Well come on, guys! We need to find Tetherby before he has a chance to make himself scares!" The rest of the Konoha party all nodded in agreement with the Fisher patriarch before they all followed him deeper into Tetherby Manor, completely forgetting that they just had one of the suspects from the mall attack right there and that they should have kept an eye on him, yeah that would have been nice.

…

The Konoha party continued to run further into Tetherby Manor, with Harold, Inoichi and Tsume taking care to knock out any butlers that they came across. "…Uhhh, Uncle Harold?" Sakura said with a mildly confused hint in her tone and expression, "I'm fairly certain that none of the butlers would have done anything to-" Sakura was cut off when she and Kuromaru watched as Tsume rammed her right knee into the gut of a butler, before turning to face a second to swing her right foot up into his hidden treasure, scoring a critical hit.

Looking on as the Inuzuka matriarch had her fun, Sakura said, "…Never mind."

"Now you know how I feel," Kuromaru remarked as he turned to look at the Uchiha woman.

After the three senior shinobi finished knocking out all of the help that was present in that area of the mansion, Harold said, "Alright, that's the last of them! Now all that remains in to track down that fat old rich dude and kick his ass!"

"Yeah, I'm going to have to ask that you _don_'_t_ threaten me and my friends' paycheck," the familiar voice of Dabi called out, making the Konoha party turn to see Dabi and Toga come walking up to them. Pointing an accusing finger at Harold, Dabi said, "And I still need to castrate you over that little comment you made to me earlier about my mother, you fucker."

"He uses fire," Sakura remarked as she considered Dabi, "Is not all that fond of his father, and holds his mother up high on a nigh-unbreakable pedestal. There's also the fact that he likes to use fire to attack and he looks to be a bit on the edgy side of things." Gently shaking her head, the Uchiha woman remarked, "He's an awful lot like Sasuke, now that I think about it."

Dabi and Toga rushed forward to confront the Konoha party, with Toga whipping out some new knives she got after all of her previous ones were confiscated, and Dabi conjuring more of his blue flames. Tsume and Kuromaru, the latter transforming into a duplicate of the former with the Human Beast Mimicry technique, used Fang Over Fang to attack the criminals. After Tsume and Kuromaru returned to standing with the rest of the party, Inoichi used Mind Destruction on Toga, prompting her to try to attack Dabi.

Dabi held Toga's arms by the wrists to try and push the psychotic girl back, alarmed that his own teammate would try to attack him. Toga was just as alarmed, as she didn't have all that much when it came to control in what she was doing. As the two criminals struggled, Sakura punched the floor, causing a large slab of ground to burst up and throw Dabi and Toga up into the air; as the two criminals were airborne, Harold jumped up and seeming flew right at them, prepared to deal them his ultimate attack.

"Fisher Family Style!" Harold exclaimed as he pulled both of his fists back, "Punches of one-thousand Happy Hours!" The Fisher patriarch's taijitsu was just him throwing a punch of punches in a flurry at Dabi and Toga, a technique that is known by a number of other names by a number of various users in a number of various realms. But that's another story for another time. By the time that Harold's 'technique' was done, Dabi and Toga, the latter of whom was freed from the effects of Mind Destruction, were both knocked out.

With all three of the criminals from the attack at Royal Woods Mall knocked out, the Konoha party were able to proceed through the rest of Tetherby Manor with impunity in their search for Lord Tetherby himself. However, even with all that Harold and his friends had experience, there would be no preparing them for what they would be encountering when they finally confronted the man himself.

* * *

The Konoha party burst through the double-doors that Inoichi remembered seeing from the memory of Toga's that he scanned. When they flooded into the lounge room, they saw both Tetherby and Giran, the man in the purple suit that Inoichi saw. Before Giran could do much of anything, Tsume knocked him out cold with a single punch to the side of his head. As the gray-haired man fell over onto the floor, the Konoha party confronted Tetherby.

Pointing dramatically at Tetherby, Harold exclaimed triumphantly, "Your weaksauce villainy ends here and now, you fat sack of shit!"

Tetherby, arching a wry eyebrow, looked as if he wasn't all that worried about being confronted by the Konoha party. Taking a casual sip from a glass of brandy, Tetherby said, "So, the valiant heroes from one of the elemental countries have come to see me and put a stop to my plans to boost my wealth to even further heights." Setting his glass of brandy down on the small table that was standing next to the armchair he sat in, Tetherby got up and walked a bit towards the Konoha party, stopping about half a dozen feet from them.

Tetherby kicked a rug out of the way, knelt down, and pulled at something on the floor, removing a cover in the floor that revealed a hidden cubby in the floor that held a circular stone tablet roughly half the overall size of an average manhole cover. The stone was a very light gray, was covered in all manner of Nordic runes, and was inlaid with numerous small, finely cut sapphires and a single cut sapphire the size of a golf ball in the center of the circular stone tablet. The sapphire in the center was glowing brightly with power.

Slapping his right hand down on the circular stone table, Tetherby exclaimed, "Well it's a damn good thing I pressured a private collector living in Sweden into selling this to me when I saw it and realized what it was capable of!" The fat old rich man suddenly became enveloped in a very bright glowing aura that soon made him a blinding white silhouette. As Tetherby started to glow like this, his form began to not only grow, but shift in shape as well.

As the glowing form of Tetherby grew and changed, the Konoha party had to look up more and more to see just how far Tetherby was growing. When the growing had finished and the glowing faded, the Konoha party was shocked to see that Tetherby had turned into a large, bulky Troll-like monster, looking similar to a certain trio of trolls that found a party of Dwarven adventurers and were trying to cook and eat them.

"No way!" Harold said as he, Inoichi and Tsume all took a step back. Pointing up at the transformed Tetherby, the Fisher patriarch exclaimed, "He not only found it, but he's abusing its sacred powers to fuel his evil deeds!"

Sakura and Kuromaru, though both similarly alarmed as the three seniors, had hints of confusion in their respective expressions. Turning to face her uncle, Sakura asked, "Umm, do you actually know what's going on here, Uncle Harold?"

"He has it!" Tsume exclaimed as Harold, as well as Inoichi, was still rattled by Tetherby's surprise transformation, "He has the Runestone!"

"…You mean to tell me that one of the little bits of bullshit that Harold came up with is actually something that's real?" Kuromaru asked, genuine surprise at something he wasn't expecting temporarily overriding his alarm at seeing Tetherby transform into a large troll-like creature.

The transformed Tetherby stomped forward as he swung his right hand, curled up into a fist, up into the air with the intention of bringing it right down on the Konoha party. The four humans and one ninkin all jumped out of the way to avoid the devastating blow, which shook the room that everyone was in; hell, it even shook Tetherby Manor itself. His initial attack having missed all of his targets, Tetherby stomped forward.

"You bothersome shinobi won't leave here alive!" Trollerby shouted angrily as he stampeded towards the closest member of the Konoha party, which just so happened to be Sakura. The pink-haired woman leapt out of the way to avoid being grabbed by Trollerby's outheld hands, which were clearly primed to grab a target. After Sakura avoided being grabbed, she quickly whipped out a kunai that had an explosive tag attached to it and threw it at Trollerby, with the Kunai getting stuck in one of the large, fleshy thighs of the transformed man.

To Trollerby, that kunai sticking in his thigh was about as bad as a sewing needle prick is to a human. However, when the explosive tag went off, it blasted his thigh so badly, a noticeable chuck was blown out, causing prolific bleeding. "ARRUUHHGGG!" Trollerby roared in a mix of anger and pain, his wound making him stumble back a bit. Although the wound on Trollerby was painful to him, it was cause of celebration for the Konoha party.

"Well alright, Sakura!" Tsume cheered, "You wounded the fat fuck! Now all we have to do is keep up with the damage and-" The Inuzuka matriarch stopped short when she and the others all noticed that the blasted wound in Trollerby's damaged thigh quickly regenerated. As the wound was healing itself, Tsume snapped her fingers. "…Damn it," Tsume swore, "I forgot that trolls have an amazing healing factor. Most damage that we do to this guy will quickly be healed."

Snapping his fingers, Harold said, "Oh! I remember that not only are trolls weak to fire, but that it's difficult for them to heal from fire wounds, if not impossible!"

"There's just one problem with that, Harold," Kuromaru pointed out, "None of us can use any fire jitsu! How the hell can any of us set Tetherby in his troll form on fire if we all lack the means to do so?"

Pulling out another kunai with an explosive tag attached to it, Sakura remarked, "Now I _really_ wish that Sasuke was here. He has all sorts of fire techniques. It helps that he could also trap this guy in a genjitsu to leave him vulnerable to attack." Right when Trollerby's first wound from the Uchiha woman had healed up, he was struck by another kunai that soon exploded, only this time it was on the right side of his stomach. Trollerby cried out in pain as he covered his wound with his large, gnarled hand.

"Maybe we can pile on the attacks and damage him faster than his troll regeneration can keep up with," Inoichi suggested, "I mean, it's better than the alternative!"

"Like hell any of you will ever be able to defeat me!" Trollerby shouted defiantly through the pain that was searing its way up his right side, "With my new form, I am unstoppable! I will go on to make the entire world my oyster! All wealth shall belong to me, and no one will ever see a cent from me for anything! Not even those villains from Japan that I hired as mercenaries will get what I had-"

Trollerby was cut off mid-rant when a streak of blue flames raced up his side, catching all of the Konoha party members by surprise as they turned around to look and see that Dabi, who was being partly supported by Spinner who held Dabi's left arm over his shoulders, has conjured some of his blue flames to attack Trollerby. Standing next to her teammates was Toga, who had just collected the knocked-out Giran.

Scoffing in a mildly amused tone, Dabi remarked, "Not exactly a good time to loudly declare that you were never intending to pay us, huh? Especially since I just heard that trolls such as what you have become are super-weak to fire."

"YOU DARE-?!" Trollerby bellowed in rage as he glared angrily at his hired mercenaries with a look that could kill. Unfortunately for him, his greed blinded him to the fact that the villains were not in the least bit perturbed.

"You should have been willing and intending to pay us," Dabi said as a final message before he sent enough of his blue flames to completely engulf Trollerby, causing the transformed Tetherby to cry out in extreme pain as he was burned alive by a blazing sea of brilliant sapphire blue. The Konoha party looked on as the mighty foe was incinerated before he fell to his knees, fell over onto the floor, and became very still, _very_ permanently.

After he had died, Tetherby's form had transformed back to normal, leaving the charred remains of an older, overweight man lying face down on the floor, wearing only a pair of underpants. As the Konoha party turned to look at Dabi and his group, Spinner spoke to them. "It was nothing personal when we tangoed with you elemental nation shinobi lot," the lizard man said, "We were only in it for the paycheck that we were promised. And since that bastard declared that he was not going to actually pay us, we were more than glad to help you guys take him down."

Toga nodded in agreement before saying, "We're going to be taking our leave now, and since you guys have to deal with handling what happens now that the fat old man is dead, I don't think that you guys will be able to stop me and my friends from leaving."

"…Ah, forget it," Harold remarked as he waved a dismissive hand at the group, "There are more important things to tend to than dealing with a group of criminals that in the end actually helped us take down the true threat." Walking over to the hole in the floor that Tetherby revealed before he transformed into Trollerby, Harold knelt down, picked up the Runestone, and held it in his hands as he looked down at it. "…The Runestone here, for example, cannot be allowed to stay here in Royal Woods, where its sacred power and influence can be used for corrupt deeds, such as what the fat old man who is dead now tried to pull."

Dabi held his free hand up in a gesture to show that he wasn't going to argue. "Hey man," Dabi said, "Don't let us stop you. You guys clearly know a hell of a lot more about that whatever the fuck that thing you have there is." Dabi and his fellows (aside from Giran who was still knocked out) all nodded once in thanks to the Konoha party before they took their leave from the manor of the late Lord Tetherby.

When Dabi and his party were gone, Harold turned to face the rest of the Konoha party. "We need to inform the local authorities about what happened here," the Fisher patriarch began, "Let them know that the threat has been dealt with."

"How will we explain the fact that the guys from the attack next to Royal Woods Mall got away just now?" Kuromaru replied, "I mean, they _did_ attack the construction machines next to the mall, and they attacked the police station."

With a shrug, Inoichi said, "We'll simply tell them that Tetherby, while he was in his troll form, killed and ate all four of them." Gesturing to around the room, Inoichi said, "This room has more than sufficient evidence to confirm that there was a troll here. Also, those bits of troll flesh that were blown off by Sakura's explosive tag kunai didn't transform back, so they can be used as more evidence to prove that Tetherby when he was a troll ate his mercenaries."

With a resigned sigh, Sakura shrugged as she said, "It's as good as a story as we can get, I suppose." Gently shaking her head, the Uchiha woman continued, "I just hope that it will fly. Also, I hope that you and your friends know what you're doing in regards to taking that stone thing with you, Uncle Harold."

"Sakura, please, you can trust me," Harold replied, "I'm a doctor."

* * *

Surprisingly enough, the local police all totally bought the story that the three Konoha seniors had spun concerning Tetherby turning into a troll, mostly because the bits of troll flesh that didn't transform back was still there to be collected as evidence. Harold also hid the Runestone in a sealing scroll so that he wouldn't run the risk of the police collecting it as evidence; the Fisher patriarch said that the Runestone is a relic of grand importance, comparable to that of the guitar that he allowed Luna to borrow that one time.

When all was said and done, Harold and the rest of the group walked out of the front gates that led into the grounds of Tetherby Manor. Seeing how dark it was outside, Sakura took her phone out and used it to check the time. "…Wow, it's close to midnight," the Uchiha woman remarked, "What are we going to do now?"

"We'll head back to the Louds' place and crash there for the night," Tsume replied, "After that, since we have nothing left keeping us here in Royal Woods, I figure that we could all go home."

"Home does sound rather nice right about now," Kuromaru remarked around the same time that Lori and Lincoln came running up to him and the rest of the Konoha party.

"Are you guys literally okay?" Lori asked in a tone of worry, "You guys were taking a long time, and Lincoln and I heard noises and-"

Lori stopped midsentence when Harold held a hand up, cutting her off. "Young lady, relax," the Fisher patriarch said calmly, "We defeated the true culprit and resolved everything." Stretching his arms into the air, Harold continued, "All that the guys here and I want to do now is go back to your guys' place and crash for the night before we gear up to go back home to Konoha."

Lori crossed her arms over her chest, giving the Konoha party a mildly amused look. "Sure," the oldest Loud sibling replied, "I don't see why not." Jerking a thumb over her shoulder, Lori said, "Come on. Vanzilla is this way." The Konoha party all nodded in thanks as they followed Lori and Lincoln to Vanzilla, so that they could go back and rest for the night.

END, RUNESTONE CHAPTER FIVE

Author's notes:

There we go. The big climatic showdown of this story has been reached, and the Konoha party, aided by the betrayed Dabi and his party, were successful in defeating Tetherby once and for all. All that remains to occur is for Harold and friends to recover their strength by resting for the night, then they'll say their good-byes to the Louds before leaving Royal Woods so that they can return home to Konohagakure.

The next chapter for this story will be the last one. After that, chronologically speaking the fourteenth, fifteenth and sixteenth chapters of the Loud House one shot collection will occur for the timeline of the main LH fic setting that I've come up with. Speaking of said timeline, it might be a good idea to write it out so that you guys have an idea on which events take place in which order, as well as what other tales might be related.

I'll try getting that timeline out at some point as soon as I can. I can't leave people wanting to know the order of things hanging, now can I?


	6. Chapter 6

Disclaimer: I do not own 'The Loud House', BNHA/MHA, Naruto or any other property in this work that I did not make myself.

We must protect the Runestone!

Chapter six: A mission is completed, also the guest characters get to go home finally

The morning after the defeat of (the late) Lord Tetherby, Harold and the rest of the Konoha party woke up at the Loud family's residence. Everyone, both the Konoha party and the Louds, were all treated to a wonderful pancake breakfast cooked up by Lynn Sr. "So, Harold-sensei," Luna began as everyone was eating breakfast, "I take it that since you and your friends here defeated Tetherby last night and resolved the case behind the attacks at the mall and police station, you'll be going back home?"

"As awesome of a place as Royal Woods is, my student," Harold began, "The bros, my niece and I cannot stay here forever. All of our work here is done, thus we need to return home."

"I take it that I'm going to have to write up the report about our activities here that we'll give to Naruto when we get back to Konoha?" Sakura asked in a knowing tone, drawing nods of confirmation from Harold, Inoichi and Tsume while getting a look of sympathy from Kuromaru. Sighing in a resigned tone, the Uchiha woman said, "At least I know how to write up a report without messing it up."

Patting Sakura on the back in a reassuring gesture, Lincoln said, "Oh, come on, Mrs. Uchiha. I'm sure it can't be that bad dealing with your uncle and his friends."

Giving the sole Loud boy a dry look, Sakura said, "Seven out of ten ice cream trucks in Konoha were all wrecked because these three frequently likes to steal them and go for joyrides."

"Hey!" Harold defended, "I legit thought that one ice cream truck was actually a mail truck, Sakura!" Crossing his arms over his chest, Harold continued, "Never let it be said that I don't try to mix things up." Sakura merely rolled her eyes at her uncle being ridiculous.

* * *

Later, after the Konoha party had packed all of their stuff that they brought with them back into the RV, Luna stood outside of her family's house, her girlfriend Sam standing by her side, as she saw the Konoha party off. "It was awesome to have you here in Royal Woods again, Harold-sensei," the musically inclined Loud sister remarked, her tone a bit sad since she was saying her good-byes to an adult that had one of the greatest impacts on her life out of any adult.

Turning to face his pupil in the dank ways of awesome and rock, Harold smiled warmly as he laid a hand on Luna's left shoulder. "…Young lady," Harold began, "You speak as if we won't be seeing each other ever again. There is no denying the dank ways of awesome and rock, how said ways go above and beyond to unite all who are blessed by its sweet touch. So long as you and I remain united by those powers, we are never truly gone from the lives of one another."

Luna smiled, touched by the wise, sagely words of the Fisher patriarch. "…Thanks, Harold-sensei," Luna replied, wiping a stray tear from her right eye as Harold gave her shoulder a pat before turning around to climb into the RV. Since Harold was the last of the Konoha party to enter the RV, the door was closed and, with Sakura at the wheel (Kuromaru is a dog and all of the seniors had drunk a few cans of lager each), the Konoha party pulled away from the Loud residence, then proceeded to drive out of Royal Woods and beyond.

When the RV was out of sight, Sam threw her right arm around Luna's shoulders, getting the musically inclined Loud sister's attention. "…Come on, babe," Sam remarked, "Let's go for a walk. The fresh air will do us some good."

"…Yeah," Luna agreed as she slowly proceeded to follow her girlfriend on a walk.

* * *

Luna and Sam were walking through a wide open grassy field, with nothing but the skies overhead. The wind blew gently, causing the grass that the two fifteen-year-old girls treaded upon to rustle in the breeze. It was a cool yet comfortable air that Luna and Sam had to themselves as they walked through that grassy field. "So babe," Sam began, "I heard that your little bro is now learning some additional fighting skills from Amy's older brother."

"Oh yeah," Luna remarked with a nod, "Aggro is teaching Lincoln a few new tricks that will help him get ahold of using Vampiric Stun in combat better. Granted, I'm not too sure what Aggro can teach Lincoln that will help-" Luna was cut off when the winds kicked up a bit, making her and Sam look up into the skies overhead.

When the two fifteen-year-old girls looked up at the clouds, they saw the forms of the clouds shift and change, a scene that Luna had seen happen once before in the past. Before long, there was a rather remarkable image of Harold's head in the clouds. The two girls, Sam especially as she has never seen something like this before, looked up in awe and wonder at the image of the Fisher patriarch's head in the clouds.

Looking down at Luna and Sam, the cloud image of Harold's head said, "Behold, for I am Mufasa." Suddenly, clouds shifted to form next to Harold's head, and when they were all done, images of Inoichi's head, Tsume's head and Kuromaru's head all appeared in the clouds as well, following Harold's head image in that order going from (if you're facing it) left to right.

"I am Thulsa Doom," Inoichi's head image said.

"I am Darth Vader," Tsume's head image said.

"And I am sorry," Kuromaru's head image remarked at the end.

"Holy shit!" Sam exclaimed as she went wide-eyed with what she was seeing, "How in the hell is this even possible?! This is some top-tier dank-level awesomeness right here!"

Harold's head image chuckled a bit in a good-natured tone. "We have achieved supreme mastery in the ways of the dank powers of awesome and rock," Harold's head image explained, "Thusly we are able to use a number of gifts, such as Cloudtalk."

Sam, still looking surprised, slowly nodded a bit as she said, "…Yeah, this is pretty awesome."

"I'm actually still trying to master using Cloudtalk myself, Sam," Luna explained, "Granted, I'm not too good at it just yet, but I am improving bit by bit."

"There is always room to grow, my young student," Harold's head image remarked, his tone making it clear he had nothing but pride in the musically inclined Loud sister, "And grown you have. I can see that you will one day achieve a level of dank and awesome that will surpass all others, even my own. Although there is still a long journey ahead of you before you reach that destination, the experiences that you are bound to gain along the way will serve you well." The image of Harold's head turned its attention slightly to focus a bit more on Sam. "…And I can see that you will play a role in Luna's ascension to becoming a rock legend," Harold's head image said to the blonde Sharp girl, "That streak of blue that you have in your hair is the sign I saw in my vision that I speak of."

Sam looked surprised by the mention that she was apparently set to play a role in her girlfriend becoming a legend in the world of rock. "…Whoa, dude," Sam said, "Seriously? I'm going to be there when Luna becomes a legend?"

The cloud images of Harold's head and the heads of his friends all nodded in the affirmative; the image of Kuromaru's head didn't nod, but he did have a look of support in his expression that was read loud and clear by Luna and Sam. "You still have some growing to do ahead of you," the image of Harold's head, "Both of you do. But when that growth has been attained, the both of you will know a life that others can only dream of."

"Worry not about the night," Inoichi's head image said as it and the other head images started to fade back into shapeless masses of clouds, "For it is followed…by the Dawn." With that last word, the images in the clouds faded, returning to being shapeless masses of cloud, thus leaving Luna and Sam on their own. Alone together, the two fifteen-year-old girls turned to face each other, looking into each other's eyes.

"What do you think Mr. Yamanaka meant by that last line he said?" Sam asked.

Gently shaking her head, Luna replied, "No clue, dude." Holding her hand out to her girlfriend, the musically inclined Loud sister said, "But that's something that we can figure out later. After all, we're going to the top together, aren't we?" Sam smiled warmly as she took Luna's offered hand into her own. The two girls, holding each other's hands, proceeded to continue with their walk, with no one but themselves there to keep them company.

END, RUNESTONE

Author's notes:

Sorry if this chapter is a bit shorter than the average word count for chapters in this story, but this was not going to be much beyond a wind-down to let things go as respectfully and quietly as can be managed. This story, as well as a number of my other LH fics that belong to the appropriate fic canon, will be complied into a list that shows what order they occur in. This will be quite the undertaking for me, so please bear with me.

Anyway, thanks to all of you for your support that you've shown for 'We must protect the Runestone!'. A few additions to the one-shot collection will follow this story in the chronology. Those one-shots will be important to the main LH fic setting, especially the one that will have the first appearances of Anastasia, Arthur and Allister. More on who those three will be, as well as their roles, will be coming in the course of future events.

Thank you, and see you all later.


End file.
